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Stanford researchers have invented an inexpensive, portable, microchip-based test for diagnosing type-1 diabetes that could improve patient care worldwide and help researchers better understand the disease, according to a new study. 

The test employs nanotechnology to detect type-1 diabetes outside hospital settings. The handheld microchips distinguish between the two main forms of diabetes mellitus, which are both characterized by high blood-sugar levels but have different causes and treatments, the press release added. 

Up until now, making the distinction has required a slow, expensive test available only in sophisticated health-care settings. 

"With the new test, not only do we anticipate being able to diagnose diabetes more efficiently and more broadly, we will also understand diabetes better - both the natural history and how new therapies impact the body," said Brian Feldman, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatric endocrinology and the Bechtel Endowed Faculty Scholar in Pediatric Translational Medicine, in the press release. Feldman, the senior author of the paper, is also a pediatric endocrinologist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.

Researchers are now seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of the device. 

The device is described in the paper Nature Medicine.