New device discovered by scientists to measure changing size of tumors below skin - Video
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Overview
Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Stanford University have developed a small, self-contained device with a stretchable/flexible sensor that can be adhered to the skin and used to measure the changing size of tumours below. With the press of a button, the non-invasive, battery-powered device can wirelessly beam results to a smartphone app in real time.
In practical terms, the researchers say, their device--dubbed FAST for "Flexible Autonomous Sensor measuring Tumors"--represents a wholly new, fast, inexpensive, hands-free, and accurate way to test the efficacy of cancer drugs. On a grander scale, it could lead to promising new directions in cancer treatment.
Each year researchers test thousands of potential cancer drugs on mice with subcutaneous tumors. Few make it to human patients, and the process of finding new therapies is slow because technologies for measuring tumour regression from drug treatment take weeks to read out a response. The inherent biological variation of tumors, the shortcomings of existing measuring approaches, and the relatively small sample sizes make drug screenings difficult and labour-intensive.
Reference:
Abramson et al., Sci. Adv. 8, eabn6550 (2022) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn6550
Speakers
Roshni Dhar, a Mass com graduate with a soft corner for health happenings, joined Medical Dialogues as a news anchor in 2021. Inspired by her mother who is a gynaecologist, she likes to keep herself and the world updated on the occurring in the medical field. She covers various aspects of health news for MDTV at Medical Dialogues. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
