DETECTING CANCER EARLIER IS GOAL OF NEW MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY
A new medical imaging
method being developed at Rutgers University could help physicians detect
cancer and other diseases earlier than before, speeding treatment and reducing
the need for invasive, time-consuming biopsies.
The potentially
lifesaving technique uses nanotechnology to reveal small cancerous tumors and
cardiovascular lesions deep inside the body. It is showing promise in early
tests by Rutgers researchers in the schools of engineering and pharmacy.
The Rutgers
scientists, who published initial results of their work in the July issue of
the journal Nature Communications, were recently awarded a $2.2
million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering, part of the National Institutes of Health, to advance their
research.
"Our new mode of
fluorescent imaging aims not only to reveal diseases earlier, but also to learn
more about the diseases before performing surgery," said Prabhas Moghe,
the lead researcher on the project and distinguished professor of biomedical
engineering and chemical and biochemical engineering. "I like to think of
it as an optical biopsy."
"This technique
could eventually be used to accurately determine whether a newly detected
cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, which should help a surgeon deal with
the full extent of disease during a single surgery," said Shridar Ganesan,
associate director for Translational Science at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New
Jersey and clinical advisor for the project. Currently a surgeon who can't tell
how far a cancer has spread may do lymph node biopsies and wait a day for
results and then perform a second surgery if needed, with its attendant trauma,
risks and costs.
The Rutgers
technology, co-developed by Richard Riman, distinguished professor of Materials
Science and Engineering, uses a different type of infrared light than is used
for imaging today. Called shortwave infrared, it penetrates skin and other
tissue more deeply than visible light or the near-infrared light used in
current imaging methods. This light stimulates dyes made with nanocrystals of
rare earth elements -- a family of 17 similar metals that are not scarce but
are difficult to mine. Rare earths are in growing demand for electronic
products such as smart phones, video screens and electric car motors and batteries.
While scientists and
physicians have long recognized the potential value of shortwave infrared
light, fluorescent dyes that react to this light have either been too toxic to
use safely or could not deliver sharp images. The dyes that Moghe and his team
are developing encapsulate rare-earth nanocrystals in a shell of human serum
albumin. They are well tolerated, distribute quickly through the body and
accumulate at the disease sites.
The researchers can
employ different types rare-earth elements, which glow under slightly different
colors of shortwave infrared light, to create a family of probes that are
sensitive to a variety of cancers. "In this way, we can get a precise
picture of the makeup and stage of the disease," he said.
The researchers have
demonstrated positive results in laboratory mice, and have shown that the
spread of cancer even on a very small scale can be detected earlier than with
traditional techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging or near-infrared
imaging. This may open up new avenues for early intervention.
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