{"62118":{"#nid":"62118","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u0022SpectroPen\u0022 Could Aid Surgeons in Detecting Edges of Tumors","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBiomedical engineers are developing a hand-held device called a SpectroPen that could help surgeons see the edges of tumors in human patients in real time during surgery.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EScientists at Emory University School of Medicine, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania described the device in an article published this week in the journal \u003Cem\u003EAnalytical Chemistry\u003C\/em\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat a patient with a tumor wants to know after surgery can be expressed succinctly: \u0022Did you get everything?\u0022 Statistics indicate that complete removal, or resection, is the single most important predictor of patient survival for most solid tumors.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This technology could allow a surgeon to directly visualize where the tumors are, in real time. In addition, a post-surgery scan could check tumor margins,\u0022 said Shuming Nie, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u0022A major challenge is to completely remove the tumor as well as identify lymph nodes that may be involved.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe SpectroPen can be used to detect fluorescent dyes, and also scattered light from tiny gold particles, a technology that Nie and his colleagues have been refining. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe particles consist of polymer-coated gold, coupled to a reporter dye and an antibody that sticks to molecules on the outsides of tumor cells more than it sticks to normal cells. Through an effect called surface-enhanced Raman scattering, the gold in the particle greatly amplifies the signal from the reporter dye. Nie and his team have been able to show that the particles can detect tumors smaller than one millimeter grafted into rodents. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe SpectroPen combines a near-infrared laser and a detector for fluorescence or scattered light. It is connected by a fiber optic cable to a spectrometer that can record fluorescence and Raman signals.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the \u003Cem\u003EAnalytical Chemistry\u003C\/em\u003E paper, the researchers used the pen to detect the dye indocyanine green, infused intravenously into mice with implanted human breast cancer cells. The dye accumulates at a higher rate in tumor cells because of the leaky blood vessels and membranes surrounding tumors. The SpectroPen\u2019s signal from the tumor is ten times higher than from normal tissue. Indocyanine green has been approved by the FDA for purposes such as measuring cardiac output and liver function.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cancer cells had a gene from fireflies added, so that tumors glow after the mice are given a \u0022luciferin\u0022 solution. This allowed the scientists to check that the outline of the tumor seen through the SpectroPen matched the glow.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our in vivo studies demonstrate that the tumor borders can be precisely detected preoperatively and intraoperatively, and that the contrast signals are strongly correlated with tumor bioluminescence,\u0022 Nie said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the laboratory, the fluorescence and Raman signals are resolvable when the nanoparticles are buried 5-10 mm deep in fresh animal tissues. However, the gold nanoparticles are 40 to 50 times more sensitive than fluorescent dyes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFuture plans include in vivo tests of the nanoparticle contrast agents, along with the SpectroPen.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of senior investigators including May Wang, Coulter Department at Georgia Tech and Emory University; Sunil Singhal, University of Pennsylvania; and James Provenzale and Brian Leyland-Jones, Emory University. They are developing an integrated spectroscopic and wide-field color imaging system for image-guided surgery and cancer detection during surgery using animal models.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EProvenzale and surgeons at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine are currently using this device to operate on dogs with naturally occurring tumors. Singhal, who is director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is applying to conduct clinical trials involving patients with lung cancer. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by a Grand Opportunities (GO) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the NIH Director\u2019s Office, and by the NCI Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) at Emory and Georgia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Georgia Tech -- Abby Vogel Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364); Emory University -- Holly Korschun, (hkorsch@emory.edu; 404-727-3990)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Emory University\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Biomedical engineers are developing a hand-held device called a SpectroPen that could help surgeons see the edges of tumors in human patients in real time during surgery.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The device was described in the journal Analytical Chemistry."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2010-10-11 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:38","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-10-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-10-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62119":{"id":"62119","type":"image","title":"SpectroPen","body":null,"created":"1449176355","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:15","changed":"1475894481","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:21","alt":"SpectroPen","file":{"fid":"191403","name":"tsc25741.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsc25741_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsc25741_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":31142,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tsc25741_0.jpg?itok=PIwX41ZE"}}},"media_ids":["62119"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1021\/ac102058k","title":"Analytical Chemistry paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=40","title":"Shuming Nie"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"385","name":"cancer"},{"id":"10941","name":"fluorescent dye"},{"id":"170953","name":"SpectroPen"},{"id":"1442","name":"tumor"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}