Detecting cancer quickly and accurately

Paul Lee Gourley; Anthony E. McDonald; Judy Kay Hendricks; G. C. Copeland; John A. Hunter; O. Akhil; D. Cheung; Jimmy D. Cox; H. Capps; Mark S. Curry; Steven K. Skirboll

doi:10.1117/12.379563

15 March 2000 Detecting cancer quickly and accurately

Paul Lee Gourley, Anthony E. McDonald, Judy Kay Hendricks, G. C. Copeland, John A. Hunter, O. Akhil, D. Cheung, Jimmy D. Cox, H. Capps, Mark S. Curry, Steven K. Skirboll

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3912, Micro- and Nanotechnology for Biomedical and Environmental Applications; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.379563
Event: BiOS 2000 The International Symposium on Biomedical Optics, 2000, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We present a new technique for high throughput screening of tumor cells in a sensitive nanodevice that has the potential to quickly identify a cell population that has begun the rapid protein synthesis and mitosis characteristic of cancer cell proliferation. Currently, pathologists rely on microscopic examination of cell morphology using century-old staining methods that are labor-intensive, time-consuming and frequently in error. New micro-analytical methods for automated, real time screening without chemical modification are critically needed to advance pathology and improve diagnoses. We have teamed scientists with physicians to create a microlaser biochip (based upon our R&D award winning bio- laser concept) which evaluates tumor cells by quantifying their growth kinetics. The key new discovery was demonstrating that the lasing spectra are sensitive to the biomolecular mass in the cell, which changes the speed of light in the laser microcavity. Initial results with normal and cancerous human brain cells show that only a few hundred cells -- the equivalent of a billionth of a liter -- are required to detect abnormal growth. The ability to detect cancer in such a minute tissue sample is crucial for resecting a tumor margin or grading highly localized tumor malignancy.

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Paul Lee Gourley, Anthony E. McDonald, Judy Kay Hendricks, G. C. Copeland, John A. Hunter, O. Akhil, D. Cheung, Jimmy D. Cox, H. Capps, Mark S. Curry, and Steven K. Skirboll "Detecting cancer quickly and accurately", Proc. SPIE 3912, Micro- and Nanotechnology for Biomedical and Environmental Applications, (15 March 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.379563

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