Bedside Cancer Scanner Speeds Diagnosis
A hand-held scanner that can detect cancer at a patient’s bedside using just a speck of tissue has been created by scientists from Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The device, about the size of a desk telephone, is the world’s smallest cancer diagnostic system, according to the scientists.
The system uses antibodies and nano-sized magnetic particles to seek out and flag cancer in cells, which are extracted with a needle, rather than large amounts of surgically removed tissue commonly used in traditional biopsies.
Until results from a pre-clinical trial were published this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine some scientists were skeptical of this new tool.
The scanner attaches to a smartphone with a special software application, showing if tumor cells are cancerous or not in about an hour.
The new technology is about 96 percent effective, far more than the 84 percent accuracy rate of a skin biopsy. Further testing is needed before this $200 device hits the market.
“It’s an important tool to allow us to start asking questions we previously couldn’t,” — Cesar Castro, oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-author of the study
Bloomberg’s Shannon Pettypiece reports.
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