Cancer Cell Viability Analyzer
Scientists from Rutgers University have created a portable device that determines whether cancer cells are sensitive to chemotherapeutic drugs or resistant, with an accuracy of 95.9%.
Six biosensors lying on a glass plate three inches in diameter.
The device works with the help of artificial intelligence and multi-frequency impedance spectroscopy using biosensors that process a small amount of liquid (only 20 µl) to count live cancer cells when passing through the electrodes. The device provides immediate results and will be suitable as a diagnostic tool for assessing the patient's condition and personalizing therapy. Also, new technologies will reduce costs for both medical professionals and patients. The device is paired with an application that can predict whether patients will respond positively to targeted cancer therapy.
Currently, the principle of operation of commercially available devices for automatic cell viability analysis is based on their staining, which greatly limits the subsequent characterization and molecular analysis of these cells. The new approach avoids staining, which makes it possible to carry out further molecular analysis.
The scientists tested their invention on samples of cancer cells treated with anti-cancer drugs of different concentrations. The device determines whether a cell is alive based on changes in its electrical properties when it passes through a tiny hole.
Unfortunately, chemotherapy destroys both tumor cells and healthy ones, causing side effects (hair loss and problems with the gastrointestinal tract). The same research group has previously developed a treatment method that targets oncological diseases such as B-cell lymphoma, multiple myeloma and epithelial cancer. The essence of the method is that the chemotherapeutic drug binds to an antibody, therefore it interacts only with tumor cells, and interaction with healthy cells is minimized. Patients will respond positively to this method of treatment if their tumor cells produce the protein matriptase.
The next stage of research is to conduct tests on patient tumor samples. Scientists hope that the device will eventually be used to test cancer treatments.
The article Ahija et. al Towards point-of-care assessment of patient response: a portable tool for rapidly assessing cancer drug efficacy using multifrequency impedance cytometry and supervised machine learning is published in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering.
Elena Panasyuk, portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru / based on Rutgers Today: Cancer Device Created at Rutgers to See if Targeted Chemotherapy is Working.