Tiny transistors can detect whether tumors have spread to other parts of the body, which could eliminate unnecessary surgeries for up to 40 percent of breast cancer patients. Typically, when surgeons operate to remove tumors, they take samples to see how far the cancer has spread. This analysis can take up to a week, and often requires follow up surgery. Now, tiny sensors can get the same results in less than an hour.
“Not only is the technology extremely reliable and efficient, it will also help to spare some of the trauma associated with cancer treatment, eliminating the need for multiple operations and giving doctors more confidence to make informed decisions during surgery,” says Benjamin Thierry, a biomedical engineer who worked on the project. The sensors were developed as part of a collaboration between University of South Australia and the Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH in Germany. Together, the researchers developed nanostructured silicon field-effect transistors that can quickly analyze whether cancer has metastasized. The research is described in a paper that published in the journal ACS Nano. The technology is still quite new, and the researchers estimate that it will take another two to three years of additional testing to fully confirm that the technology is safe and effective.
In model studies, the technology proved so refined it could detect even one tumor cell per lymph node, making it as much as a thousand times more sensitive than the most advanced technology clinically available to date.
