Biochemical sensor implanted at initial biopsy could allow doctors to better monitor and adjust cancer treatments.
In the battle against cancer, which kills nearly 8 million people worldwide each year, doctors have in their arsenal many powerful weapons, including various forms of chemotherapy and radiation. What they lack, however, is good reconnaissance — a reliable way to obtain real-time data about how well a particular therapy is working for any given patient.
Magnetic resonance imaging and other scanning technologies can indicate the size of a tumor, while the most detailed information about how well a treatment is working comes from pathologists’ examinations of tissue taken in biopsies. Yet these methods offer only snapshots of tumor response, and the invasive nature of biopsies makes them a risky procedure that clinicians try to minimize.
Now, researchers at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research are closing that information gap by developing a tiny biochemical sensor that can be implanted in cancerous tissue during the initial biopsy. The sensor then wirelessly sends data about telltale biomarkers to an external “reader” device, allowing doctors to better monitor a patient’s progress and adjust dosages or switch therapies accordingly. Making cancer treatments more targeted and precise would boost their efficacy while reducing patients’ exposure to serious side effects.
“We wanted to make a device that would give us a chemical signal about what’s happening in the tumor,” says Michael Cima, the David H. Koch (1962) Professor in Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and a Koch Institute investigator who oversaw the sensor’s development. “Rather than waiting months to see if the tumor is shrinking, you could get an early read to see if you’re moving in the right direction.”
Two MIT doctoral students in Cima’s lab worked with him on the sensor project: Vincent Liu, now a postdoc at MIT, and Christophoros Vassiliou, now a postdoc at the University of California at Berkeley. Their research is featured in a paper in the journal Lab on a Chip that has been published online.
Measurements without MRI
The sensors developed by Cima’s team provide real-time, on-demand data concerning two biomarkers linked to a tumor’s response to treatment: pH and dissolved oxygen.
As Cima explains, when cancerous tissue is under assault from chemotherapy agents, it becomes more acidic. “Many times, you can see the response chemically before you see a tumor actually shrink,” Cima says. In fact, some therapies will trigger an immune system reaction, and the inflammation will make the tumor appear to be growing, even while the therapy is effective.
Oxygen levels, meanwhile, can help doctors gauge the proper dose of a therapy such as radiation, since tumors thrive in low-oxygen (hypoxic) conditions. “It turns out that the more hypoxic the tumor is, the more radiation you need,” Cima says. “So, these sensors, read over time, could let you see how hypoxia was changing in the tumor, so you could adjust the radiation accordingly.”
The sensor housing, made of a biocompatible plastic, is small enough to fit into the tip of a biopsy needle. It contains 10 microliters of chemical contrast agents typically used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and an on-board circuit to communicate with the external reader device.
Devising a power source for these sensors was critical, Cima explains. Four years ago, his team built a similar implantable sensor that could be read by an MRI scanner. “MRI scans are expensive and not easy to make part of routine care,” he says. “We wanted to take the next step and put some electronics on the device so we could take these measurements without an MRI.”
For power, these new sensors rely on the reader. Specifically, there’s a metal coil inside the reader and a much smaller coil in the sensor itself. An electric current magnetizes the coil inside the reader, and that magnetic field creates a voltage in the sensor’s coil when the two coils are close together — a process called mutual inductance. The reader sends out a series of pulses, and the sensor “rings back,” as Cima puts it. The variation in this return signal over time is interpreted by a computer to which the reader is wired, revealing changes in the targeted biomarkers.
Read more: Real-Time Data for Cancer Therapy
The Latest on: Biochemical sensor
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Biochemical sensor” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Biochemical sensor
- Breakthrough ATP sensor sheds light on cellular energy dynamicson May 17, 2024 at 3:53 pm
A molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the basic unit of biochemical energy that fuels the activities of all cells. Now a team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Howard ...
- Researchers achieve ultra-high-Q free space coupling to microtoroid resonatorson May 16, 2024 at 11:30 am
Scientists from the University of Arizona have achieved far-field coupling of light to ultra-high quality factor microtoroids using a single objective lens. This could provide the foundation for a ...
- New molecular sensor tracks energy use at the subcellular levelon May 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
A molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the basic unit of biochemical energy that fuels the activities of all cells. Now a team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Howard ...
- A miniaturized, implantable multi-sensors device to monitor vessels healthon May 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Lab, coordinated by the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology), has officially commenced. This project aims to develop a multi-sensing device that can be implanted into ...
- Wildfire smoke is back: Fires burning across Canada are triggering US air quality alertson May 14, 2024 at 9:14 am
Dozens of wildfires are burning across Canada in May 2024 and sending unhealthy smoke blowing into the northern U.S. again. At the same time, the southeastern U.S. is getting smoke from Mexico, where ...
- Exercise-induced biochemical changes and their potential influence on cancer: a scientific reviewon April 25, 2024 at 10:19 pm
Aim To review and discuss the available international literature regarding the indirect and direct biochemical mechanisms that occur after exercise, which could positively, or negatively, influence ...
- Optical barcodes expand range of high-resolution sensoron April 25, 2024 at 5:00 pm
This enables WGM resonators to detect and quantify physical and biochemical characteristics ... the microresonator millions of times. When the sensor encounters a molecule, the resonant frequency ...
- Cities are ending their ShotSpotter contracts, but the sensors themselves are stayingon April 25, 2024 at 10:34 am
Internal ShotSpotter emails reviewed by Wired and South Side Weekly reveal that the company hasn’t removed its sensors from other cities that have ended their contracts, including San Diego ...
- How do fingerprint sensors work?on April 24, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Despite our best efforts, locks are susceptible to picking and passwords to hacking. So, how should we protect our stuff? The answer might lie in biometrics. Once a feature of Sci-fi cinema ...
- Understanding the Biochemical and Physiological Characteristics of Somatropinon April 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm
In conclusion, somatropin is a potent hormone with significant biochemical and physiological effects on the human body. Whether used for medical purposes or performance enhancement, its ...
via Bing News