A credit card-sized device is being developed by scientists at Heriot-Watt university to help detect if cancer treatment is working.

The cartridge will quickly extract small fractions of circulating tumour DNA in the blood to monitor how effective therapy has been.

Researchers have been awarded £950,000 to pursue the technology.

Patients undergoing cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy often wait months and suffer from extreme side-effects before they find out if the treatment has had any effect.

Dr Olga Oikonomidou, an academic consultant medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer at the Western General Hospital, said: "The decision to fund this project is fantastic, it will bring translational research closer to the clinical setting.

"Early detection and intervention are the most effective means for reducing morbidity and mortality of cancer. This methodology will bring improvements for patients and NHS and certainly academia.

"It will change a time-consuming methodology into a simple, one-step procedure that will be more accurate and effective for patients."

The team will spend the next four years designing, testing and carrying out pilot studies.