: Research shows development of hybrid sensor to help diagnose cancer #IndiaNEWS #Health Moscow: A research team from HSE University, Skoltech, MPGU and MISIS has developed a nanophotonic-microfluidic

Research shows development of hybrid sensor to help diagnose cancer #IndiaNEWS #Health
Moscow: A research team from HSE University, Skoltech, MPGU and MISIS has developed a nanophotonic-microfluidic sensor whose potential applications include detection, monitoring and assessment of treatment success. Today, the device can identify dissolved gases and liquids in low concentrations with high accuracy. The study appeared in Optics Letters.
According to the World Health Organisation, in 2020 the global cancer burden was estimated at 19. 3 million new cases and 10 million deaths. WHO experts believe that an estimated 30% of new cases could be prevented, and about the same proportion could be cured, with early detection.
Today, a lab-on-a-chip is a miniature sensor device capable of performing complex biochemical analysis which is considered one of the most promising approaches to early cancer detection. Russian researchers have developed a new hybrid nanophotonic-microfluidic sensor for highly sensitive analysis of liquids and gases at very low concentrations in solutions.
Gregory Goltsman, HSE MIEM Professor, says, Our study is an important step towards creating a compact lab-on-a-chip device capable of not only performing a whole set of blood tests but detecting cancer biomarkers at an early stage using a very small amount of the patients blood. Ideally, we aim to create a small portable device that needs just a drop of blood. By pressing a button, the doctor would see the results, e. g. , that the parameters are normal or that further tests are required.
The current device consists of nanophotonic optical sensors on a chip in combination with microfluidic channels above the sensor surface. Fluids or gases pumped through the channels affect the propagation of optical radiation in the highly sensitive nanophotonic devices, changing the outputs spectral characteristics. By examining these changes, researchers can determine the samples composition.
A special feature of the device is the tiny size of the microfluidic channels that deliver specimens to the sensors. This makes it possible to obtain results even from very small samples, something that can be critical when on-site analysis is not feasible and specimens must be transported elsewhere for examination.
Human blood contains certain components which can be valuable for preliminary diagnoses of oncology diseases. Such components include extracellular vesicles (exosomes). Exosomes are microscopic vesicles released into the intercellular space by tissue and organ cells.
Cells communicate among themselves by using extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, to send out messages, says Dmitry Gorin, professor at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. However, certain factorseither internal (genetic predisposition) or external (environmental, such as radiation) can disrupt a cells normal functioning, causing it to send the wrong messages, leading to uncontrolled cell division and tumour growth.

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