New Technique Sees Into Tissue At Greater Depth, Resolution
Medical imaging has become an essential tool in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease in the modern era. As it becomes a staple in everyday procedures, researchers are constantly trying to develop ways to image deeper into tissue with more detail. Led by Joseph Izatt, the researchers, scientist, and bioengineers at Duke University may have found the answer when they combined “tightly focused heat” with optical coherence tomography (OCT).
OCT is able to produce extremely detailed, high resolution images on a very tiny scale. Used in conjunction with gold nanospheres attached to targeting antibodies, this OCT technique yields impressive resolutions on the cellular level, allowing them to specifically target the cells they are looking for, and even more.
To target these cells, the Duke team attached the nano-sized gold particles to a “monoclonal antibody.” This antibody targets epidermal growth factor receptors (EFGR) on the cellular surface and is typically found in larger numbers on the surfaces of cancerous cells. Gold is the ideal particle to tag the antibodies with due to its ability to conduct heat and its non-harmful nature in tissue. Placing these gold nanospheres in a tissue sample that contained cancerous and non-cancerous cells, the OCT was able to detect and show the location of the particles in the tissue. Their experiment indicated that the cancerous cells gave a signal that was nearly 300 percent stronger than that of the non-cancerous cells.
Upon using the OCT to image the tissue, they also found that by altering the temperature of the gold particles, it distorted the emitted light’s wavelength. Through reading these changes in wavelength, they not only saw the cells, but they effectively tracked and were able to “see” the antibodies connecting to the receptors on the cells surface. This ability to target cells and customize the emitted wavelengths in the material potentially allows for use on a wide range of targets. The Duke team indicated that the technology could have many applications from “studying the margins of tumors as they are removed to assessing the effect of anti cancer drugs on blood vessels that nourish tumors.”
I stumbled across this article as I was searching for potential ways to target cancerous tissue for our Device Design Project, and was intrigued by the potential to see images on the molecular level. The degree to which this type of technology can be used seems boundless, and could potentially allow us to track a multitude of molecules in the body, for both research and medicine.
-Shawn Schepel
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080917095400.htm
OCT is able to produce extremely detailed, high resolution images on a very tiny scale. Used in conjunction with gold nanospheres attached to targeting antibodies, this OCT technique yields impressive resolutions on the cellular level, allowing them to specifically target the cells they are looking for, and even more.
To target these cells, the Duke team attached the nano-sized gold particles to a “monoclonal antibody.” This antibody targets epidermal growth factor receptors (EFGR) on the cellular surface and is typically found in larger numbers on the surfaces of cancerous cells. Gold is the ideal particle to tag the antibodies with due to its ability to conduct heat and its non-harmful nature in tissue. Placing these gold nanospheres in a tissue sample that contained cancerous and non-cancerous cells, the OCT was able to detect and show the location of the particles in the tissue. Their experiment indicated that the cancerous cells gave a signal that was nearly 300 percent stronger than that of the non-cancerous cells.
Upon using the OCT to image the tissue, they also found that by altering the temperature of the gold particles, it distorted the emitted light’s wavelength. Through reading these changes in wavelength, they not only saw the cells, but they effectively tracked and were able to “see” the antibodies connecting to the receptors on the cells surface. This ability to target cells and customize the emitted wavelengths in the material potentially allows for use on a wide range of targets. The Duke team indicated that the technology could have many applications from “studying the margins of tumors as they are removed to assessing the effect of anti cancer drugs on blood vessels that nourish tumors.”
I stumbled across this article as I was searching for potential ways to target cancerous tissue for our Device Design Project, and was intrigued by the potential to see images on the molecular level. The degree to which this type of technology can be used seems boundless, and could potentially allow us to track a multitude of molecules in the body, for both research and medicine.
-Shawn Schepel
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080917095400.htm
posted by Shawn Schepel at 9:05 PM
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