You’re probably familiar with LED (light emitting diode) technology for its commercial use in LED TVs and in the lighting industry. LEDs are well recognized as an alternative to incandescent bulbs, which are being phased out in the U.S. by 2014.
However, LED technology has applications that go far beyond lighting and entertainment. In fact, some say it could revolutionize many aspects of our lives, including health care.
One recent example comes from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), where researchers successfully detected prostate cancer using this new cancer technology, LED technology. 
The South Korean team showed that they could surgically implant a special type of flexible LED inside the human body in an unobtrusive way. Once implanted, the cancer technology was able to detect cancer. The researchers speculate it might also able to treat various diseases.
The KAIST paper was published online in the September 2011 issue of Nano Energy.
Use of this cancer technology for implantable biomedical devices and cancer detection is groundbreaking. As reported in Science Daily:
Until now, it has been difficult to use this semiconductor material to fabricate flexible electronic systems due to its brittleness. The research team, however, has succeeded in developing a highly efficient, flexible GaN [gallium nitride] LED and in detecting cancer using a flexible LED biosensor….
Prof. John Roger (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UIUC) said, “Bio-integrated LEDs represent an exciting, new technology with strong potential to address important challenges in human health. This present work represents a very nice contribution to this emerging field of finding alternative ways to find cancer and treat it.”
