One of the main obstacles in the battle against breast cancer is the lack of effective and economical early diagnostic tools. However, this could now be set to change. Scientists from the University of Michigan have been developing a device able to detect the presence of metabolites linked with breast cancer on the breath of patients. As a result, the team has won a Breast Cancer Research Program Idea award which will support their continued research.
“We are very excited about getting this grant without having had too much real exposure to breast cancer research”, said Joerg Lahann, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and principal investigator.
The key to the device’s action is based upon ‘switchable surface technology’, the principal of which states that switchable surfaces have molecularly designed sites which attract metabolites associated with breast cancer. The sites are nanopockets able to interact with oil and water. The surfaces are able to stand upright or lie flat. When upright, the spaces are open and thus able to attract the metabolites. The metabolites can be detected optically or via a change in conductance.
In order that the device may be reusable, an electric charge may be applied to the surface which would cause the particles to bend, and therefore close, releasing the metabolites.
The inspiration for the device came about when one of Lahann’s graduate students, David Pang, read two papers which demonstrated that certain metabolites could mark the presence of breast cancer, via breath and urine.
“We realized that if one could put these molecules in a screening platform, they might develop a noninvasive, quick and inexpensive over-the-counter breast cancer screening test”, Lahann said.
Success for bladder tissue engineering
In patients suffering from bladder disease, high pressures in the bladder can lead to kidney damage. Current treatment involves reconstructive bladder surgery utilzing graft tissue taken from the small intestine or stomach. Such tissues, however, are not optimal and can result in many complications.
In order to improve the compatibility of the tissue, doctors from Wake University School of Medicine, NC, USA, have successfully performed the operation with engineered bladder tissue from the patients own cells.
“It is now possible to engineer complex tissues using the patients’ own cells and grow them outside the body and put them back in”, said lead author Anthony Atala, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University.
“By doing this, you avoid the use of intestine”, Atala said. “When you put intestine tissue into the bladder it continues to excrete things, which can cause complications”, he added.
In Atala’s study, bladder cells from seven patients aged 4–19 years, suffering from poor bladder function due to myelomeningocele, were taken. Muscle and special bladder cells (urothelial cells) were then grown in the laboratory. The cells were then placed onto a bladder-shaped scaffold and left to develop for 7–8 weeks.
The engineered tissue was surgically attached to the patient’s own bladder. Over a period of 2–5 years, bladder function improved without any of the complications associated with the use of bowel tissue.
The researchers have also postulated that the principles could be well utilized in the future to engineer other types of tissue.
Steve Chung of the Advanced Urology Institute of Illinois, and author of an accompanying commentary in the journal stated, “this is a milestone”.
“For over 100 years, using bowel tissue has been the only ideal tissue available for use in the bladder”, Chung said. “Using this tissue, you risk other complications, such as electrolyte imbalances and mucus secretions.”
FDA approves novel C-QUR™ Coated Mesh
The Atrium Medical Corporation obtained US FDA 510(k) approval for a new bioabsorbable coated surgical mesh product called C-QUR™ Mesh.
The product has been approved for use in surgical repair and reinforcement of soft tissue, including hernia repair. The new technology combines Atrium’s ProLite Ultra™ polypropylene surgical mesh with a proprietary, pharmaceutical grade omega-3 fatty acid bioabsorbable coating. The combination of an inert thin wall polypropylene mesh with an omega-3 biological coating in preclinical studies has demonstrated a minimization of peritoneal tissue attachment as well as a significant reduction in both foreign body reaction and inflammation, resulting in a well-healed, reinforced repair.
The aim of the new technology is to provide today’s clinicians with a broad spectrum of options for both laparoscopic and open surgical repair. This is the first known nonpolymeric, bioabsorbable coating which has, in preclinical studies, demonstrated that it significantly improves anatomical conformance by reducing aggressive, dense acellular collagen formation. These same studies confirmed that with the addition of Atrium’s proprietary omega-3 coating technology, C-QUR Mesh also experienced less material contraction following healing when compared with other noncoated ‘bare polymer’ surgical films and more rigid composite surgical mesh products.
2006 Medical Design Excellence Award to HydroCision
HydroCision® Inc. has been awarded the 2006 Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA) for its novel SpineJet® MicroResector. MDEA is the premier awards program for the Medtech industry and annually recognizes the contributions and advances in the design of medical devices. New products are evaluated on the basis of innovation, enhanced benefits to patients and the ability of the product development team to overcome design and engineering challenges.
“As a result of the SpineJet MicroResector – a surgical instrument used in minimally invasive spine surgery – a growing number of neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and interventional pain physicians are using the HydroDiscectomy procedure to remove targeted disc tissue to relieve patients’ back or leg pain”, said Douglas J Daniels, President and CEO of HydroCision. “We believe that HydroDiscectomy will become a standard of care for patients, and this award recognizes this great potential. Initial clinical findings demonstrate that the MicroResector treats patients in a manner that minimizes the trauma of back surgery, reduces their dependence for medication and gets them back to a normal lifestyle.”
Back pain often occurs when part of a disc presses on the spine nerves. The alternative invasive surgical procedure is known as microdiscectomy. HydroDiscectomy uses a high-velocity water jet to quickly and safely decompress herniated (bulging) discs, providing relief to many patients suffering from chronic back and/or leg pain. The new HydroDiscectomy procedure aims to bridge the gap between conservative therapy and invasive ‘open’ surgery. HydroDiscectomy can offer a further option to patients who have failed many conservative treatments, and may as a result lead to a significant reduction in the reliance on narcotic pain medication.
New device for localized chemotherapy delivery
Researchers at the University of Bath, UK, have developed a novel method to deliver chemotherapy to cancer patients which will reduce the negative side effects associated with chemotherapy, such as hair loss and vomiting.
The procedure involves the use of tiny fibers and beads, soaked in the required chemotherapeutic agent, which are implanted directly into the cancerous area in the patient’s body.
The fibers are biodegradable and compatible with body tissue so as to prevent tissue rejection. Once implanted into the cancerous region they turn from solid to liquid and slowly release the chemical to destroy the cancer in a more localized manner.
The drug-delivery vehicle named Fibrasorb was developed by Semali Perera of the University of Bath’s Department of Chemical Engineering. The first clinical trials on patients with ovarian cancer are due to begin in the next few years.
“The new fibers and beads could cut out some side effects entirely, including nausea and vomiting, and could reduce the number of people who die each year. Although the first study will be on patients with ovarian cancer, soon we hope that other cancer sufferers with solid tumors will benefit. Give that around one in eight people worldwide die of cancer; this could be a vitally important step in the treatment of this disease. We have now assembled an extremely experienced team to develop the Fibrasorb technology.” Perera said.
Other researchers have also worked on using tiny beads as a way of delivering drugs locally, but the new system shows greater promise because it can achieve better control when delivering the drug.
A patent application has been filed on the drug-delivery system, and drug companies across the world are expected to express great interest in the new technology.
Invaluable new tool for studying brain development open to all
Researchers at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, TN, USA, have provided worldwide free access to an internet-based research tool, known as the mouse Brain Gene Expression Map (BGEM), which will be invaluable for the study of brain development. The BGEM is one of the largest gene expression maps of an organ to be developed. It is hoped that the map will enable scientists to discover the genetic origins of brain cancer and boost the development of new drug therapies.
The resemblance between the mouse and human brain makes the map useful to researchers studying the development of the human brain and the origin of brain tumors from gene mutations, according to Tom Curran, co-chair of Developmental Neurobiology at St Jude. “The BGEM represents a new strategy for exchanging information among researchers that will accelerate our understanding of the human nervous system”, he said. “I foresee a time when researchers will be able to do certain studies to confirm hypotheses using a computer interface that links our data to many other kinds of gene information, without the need to go into a regular laboratory.”
The BGEM contains tens of thousands of images seen through a microscope. The images display where and when particular genes are expressed at each of four developmental stages. The images are then linked with the most up-to-date information on those genes, such as their function, location and DNA sequence.
“A researcher who discovers a previously unrecognized gene that is expressed during brain development can rapidly determine how it fits into the overall scheme of brain development”, said Craig Brumwell, the Gene Expression Nervous System Atlas manager at St Jude Developmental Neurobiology. “The BGEM helps researchers skip over much of the drudgery of digging up information from the literature or from other databases.”