Artist rendering of nano probe.

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY — CLEMSON — Two Clemson University professors have received $250,000 to research nanofiber-based probes for medical diagnostics, the university reported this week.

The probes, which are needles 10 times smaller in diameter than a human hair, could help save money and time compared with use of more traditional methods of sampling biological fluids. Needles containing tiny fibers will work like a sponge to draw up fluids from even the smallest surface, according to a Clemson news release.

The grant is from the National Science Foundation.

“This is much like the procedure a butterfly uses to suck up its food,” said Konstantin Kornev, associate professor in Clemson’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, according to the release. “It’s interesting to see how these conduits that nature invented work.”

Kornev said the fibers could be used to draw saliva samples from the glands of chemotherapy patients who often experience painful dry mouth as a side effect of their treatments. Another possible use is inserting new genes into cells.

This research is part of an ongoing project to develop fiber-based medical devices in Clemson’s School of Materials Science and Engineering and the Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films, according to center director Douglas Hirt.

Kornev and Igor Luzinov will conduct research over three years with two teams of graduate students, according to the release. Kornev’s group will focus on the development of the fiber probes themselves, while Luzinov's will concentrate on creating smart coatings that will expel fluid upon heating.