A compact, relatively low cost imaging device has been developed by researchers at the Department of Neurosurgery (Los Angeles, CA) that has the ability to distinguish malignant brain tumors from normal, healthy tissue.
The new technology is a small camera and a targeted imaging agent that has been developed based on a “synthetic version of a small protein – peptide – that has been found in the venom of the deathstalker scorpion,” according to a report. The brain tumor cells, when stimulated by the laser in the camera using a near-infrared (NIR) portion of the spectrum emits a glow that is visible to the camera, but invisible to the naked eye. This allows the image to be captured and sent to a computer so technologists can view it.
Studies conducted on laboratory mice that had been implanted with human brain tumors showed a clear delineation of the tumor tissue from the healthy brain tissue. NIR is also able to penetrate the tissue and help to track cancerous cells that may have migrated away from the original, main tumor. In the past, these small cells would have gone undetected.
One of the authors of the research study was quoted as saying, “the tumor-imaging process consists of two parts: deploying a fluorescent “dye” that sticks only to cancer cells, and using a laser and a special camera to make an invisible image visible.” The dye is delivered to the tumor via a peptide called chlorotoxin. This peptide bypasses healthy tissue but will bind to any malignant cells.
Delivered intravenously, the indocyanine green dye will seek out the tumor and once the NIR laser is shone on it, the malignant cells will glow. The camera that couples with the NIR laser captures the images and transmits them to the radiology technologists who view them on a high definition monitor.
The prototype system is compact, but researchers hope to make the technology even smaller, more compact and portable; this will make it easier to place in an operating room and allow a neurosurgeon to focus on the imaging screen system.
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