An award-winning invention by Stanford doctoral students Richard Gaster and Drew Hall may change who diagnoses diseases ranging from flu to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The invention, called the NanoLab, is a miniature, portable bioassay that can identify several disease proteins simultaneously without doctors, technicians or special lab equipment. With this technology, the inventors hope that individuals can literally take health care into their own hands.

"We built a technology that can be dispensed anywhere,'' said Gaster, an MD and PhD candidate in bioengineering. "It's affordable, easy to use, and doesn't require a laboratory to wash anything; it's all self-contained."

Hall and Gaster entered a preliminary version of the NanoLab, originally coined "Lab-on-a-Stick," in the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance BMEidea competition as a tool to use in airports to reduce the spread of pandemics. They took first place, and at a ceremony in New York on June 10, 2009, they received a $10,000 prize and a large trophy to display in the Stanford Department of Bioengineering.

Further innovations on the NanoLab won first prize in the IEEE Presidents' Change the World Competition as a diagnostic tool for developing countries that are short on doctors and equipment. Gaster and Hall received certificates, another $10,000, and planets named after them at a ceremony in Los Angeles, California on June 25, 2009.

The past, present and future presidents of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers who chose the finalists were challenged to judge diverse inventions ranging from electronic games that aid disabled children to a human-powered grain crusher.

"It was like comparing apples and oranges...but we eventually agreed that the NanoLab was No. 1," said IEEE President John Vig. "The NanoLab is useful not only in third-world countries, and not only in poor countries, but in every country, even in the United States," he said.

Planning the NanoLab

Hall and Gaster found out about the IEEE competition much later than many of their 200 competitors. They finished the project in 10 or 12 weeks while other teams of up to 20 members had worked for several months.

"It was a highly accelerated timeline," said Hall, a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering. "We were trying to find the one sexier, killer application that would make this...something that was above and beyond," he said. "This was something we did on the weekends, spare time and nights--squeezed in."

The effort included planning, hard work and a bit of luck. "We planned in two cycles with basically one round worth of errors," Gaster explained. "The first cycle failed on multiple fronts," he said laughing. "But we figured out all the problems, and the second cycle miraculously worked."