• Popular
    • Medicine
    • Radiology
    • Cardiology
    • Surgery
    • Nanomedicine
    • Military Medicine
    • Rehab
  • Categories
    • Exclusive
    • A-D
      • Anesthesiology
      • Art
      • Cardiac Surgery
      • Cardiology
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diagnostics
    • E-I
      • Emergency Medicine
      • ENT
      • Genetics
      • Geriatrics
      • GI
      • Informatics
    • M-N
      • Medicine
      • Military Medicine
      • Nanomedicine
      • Net News
      • Neurology
      • Neurosurgery
      • Nuclear Medicine
    • O-P
      • Ob/Gyn
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopedic Surgery
      • Pathology
      • Pediatrics
      • Plastic Surgery
      • Psychiatry
      • Public Health
    • R-V
      • Radiation Oncology
      • Radiology
      • Rehab
      • Reproductive Medicine
      • Space Medicine
      • Sports Medicine
      • Surgery
      • Thoracic Surgery
      • Urology
      • Vascular Surgery
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Submit PR
  • About
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS
  • Submit PR
  • Log in
Medgadget
Medgadget
  • Popular
    • Medicine
      Levels Is Making Metabolism and Blood Glucose Tracking Accessible To Everyone

      Levels Is Making Metabolism and Blood Glucose Tracking Accessible To Everyone

      CRISPR Combined with Glowing Proteins for Viral Detection

      CRISPR Combined with Glowing Proteins for Viral Detection

      Biomimetic Construct Models Burn Injuries

      Biomimetic Construct Models Burn Injuries

      Moving Cells Using Ultrasound

      Moving Cells Using Ultrasound

    • Radiology
      Imaging Technique Reveals Contraction Patterns During Labor

      Imaging Technique Reveals Contraction Patterns During Labor

      Moving Cells Using Ultrasound

      Moving Cells Using Ultrasound

      Ultrasound Catheter to Treat Hypertension

      Ultrasound Catheter to Treat Hypertension

      Antibacterial Smart Sutures Visible in CT Scans

      Antibacterial Smart Sutures Visible in CT Scans

    • Cardiology
      Scientists Grow Electrodes Inside The Body

      Scientists Grow Electrodes Inside The Body

      Patient-Specific Soft Robotic Heart Replicas for Treatment Planning

      Patient-Specific Soft Robotic Heart Replicas for Treatment Planning

      Tiny Patch for Cardiac Ultrasound Imaging

      Tiny Patch for Cardiac Ultrasound Imaging

      Belt Monitors Heart Failure Patients

      Belt Monitors Heart Failure Patients

    • Surgery
      Biomimetic Construct Models Burn Injuries

      Biomimetic Construct Models Burn Injuries

      Exclusive Look at HandX Robotic-Assisted Surgical Device from Human Xtensions

      Exclusive Look at HandX Robotic-Assisted Surgical Device from Human Xtensions

      Self-Assembling Peptides as a Bioink

      Self-Assembling Peptides as a Bioink

      3D Bioengineered Skin Grafts Fit Complex Anatomy

      3D Bioengineered Skin Grafts Fit Complex Anatomy

    • Nanomedicine
      Bottlebrush Particle for Synergistic Drug Combinations

      Bottlebrush Particle for Synergistic Drug Combinations

      Extra Hot Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy

      Extra Hot Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy

      Making Tumors Tastier for the Immune System

      Making Tumors Tastier for the Immune System

      Improved Membrane Coating for Anti-Cancer Nanoparticles

      Improved Membrane Coating for Anti-Cancer Nanoparticles

    • Military Medicine
      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Fingertip Sensor Measures Lithium Levels in Sweat

      Fingertip Sensor Measures Lithium Levels in Sweat

      Fabric Makes Electricity from Movement to Power Wearables

      Fabric Makes Electricity from Movement to Power Wearables

      Wearable Uses Microneedles to Track Metabolism

      Wearable Uses Microneedles to Track Metabolism

    • Rehab
      Empowering Stroke Survivors: Interview with Kirsten Carroll, CEO at Kandu Health

      Empowering Stroke Survivors: Interview with Kirsten Carroll, CEO at Kandu Health

      Smart Walking Stick for Visually Impaired People

      Smart Walking Stick for Visually Impaired People

      Implantable Device Adheres to Muscle, Treats Atrophy

      Implantable Device Adheres to Muscle, Treats Atrophy

      Non-Invasive Spinal Modulation for Cerebral Palsy

      Non-Invasive Spinal Modulation for Cerebral Palsy

  • Categories
    • Exclusive
    • A-D
      • Anesthesiology
      • Art
      • Cardiac Surgery
      • Cardiology
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diagnostics
    • E-I
      • Emergency Medicine
      • ENT
      • Genetics
      • Geriatrics
      • GI
      • Informatics
    • M-N
      • Medicine
      • Military Medicine
      • Nanomedicine
      • Net News
      • Neurology
      • Neurosurgery
      • Nuclear Medicine
    • O-P
      • Ob/Gyn
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopedic Surgery
      • Pathology
      • Pediatrics
      • Plastic Surgery
      • Psychiatry
      • Public Health
    • R-V
      • Radiation Oncology
      • Radiology
      • Rehab
      • Reproductive Medicine
      • Space Medicine
      • Sports Medicine
      • Surgery
      • Thoracic Surgery
      • Urology
      • Vascular Surgery
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Submit PR
  • About
  • Log in
  • Submit PR
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS

Microfluidic Chips to Diagnose and Characterize Cancer: Interview with Prof. Fatih Sarioglu, Georgia Tech

October 24th, 2018 Conn Hastings Diagnostics, Exclusive, Genetics, Materials, Oncology, Pathology

Research into microfluidic devices to aid in cancer diagnosis promises huge leaps in making diagnostics easier and faster. Much of this research is focused on chips that can trap circulating tumor cells (CTCs) which are present in blood samples. CTCs are released from a primary tumor and can form metastases in other sites in the body, a process which is responsible for more than 90% of cancer-related deaths.

Being able to easily detect and assess CTCs in the blood would provide clinicians with the ability to minimally-invasively diagnose cancer and provide researchers with a window on cancer metastasis and progression. At present, if scientists wish to find CTCs in a blood sample, they have to search for them manually using a microscope, like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The microfluidic chips designed by Professor Fatih Sarioglu of Georgia Tech are conceived as a streamlined replacement for such manual techniques. They require only a small volume of blood and employ a bifurcated design to trap CTC clusters, while allowing healthy single cells to pass through.

The trapped cells remain viable, and can be removed from the chip for culturing and further analysis. So far, Sarioglu and his research team have tested the chips with blood samples from patients with a variety of metastatic cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, breast, and prostate cancers. Massachusetts General Hospital has licensed the chip technology, and it is currently being used in both basic cancer research and clinical studies.

Medgadget had the opportunity to ask Prof. Sarioglu some questions about his research.

 

Conn Hastings, Medgadget: Please give us some background on how metastatic cancers are generally diagnosed and monitored at present.

Fatih Sarioglu: Cancer is typically diagnosed during a doctor’s visit triggered by its symptoms being felt by the patient. At that point, unfortunately it might have already metastasized. The primary and secondary sites are identified through imaging and the tumor tissue is resected and sent for a biopsy to identify the type of the cancer. Following the cancer diagnosis, the patient is given chemotherapy and is followed up with periodic imaging of the tumor sites for a potential relapse.

 

Medgadget: How would a simple blood test be useful in terms of rapid diagnosis, a reduction in invasive procedures, and point-of-care analysis?

Sarioglu: Diagnosing and monitoring cancer through a simple blood analysis offers great opportunities for non-invasive management of cancer. A blood test is already central to many medical decisions and can be performed in almost any clinic at the point-of-care. It is also minimally invasive and can be performed as many times as needed unlike a surgical biopsy. Therefore, a blood-based biopsy, also called the liquid biopsy, can provide a way not only to diagnose cancer from simple blood work as part of a check-up well before its symptoms appear, but also to monitor patient response to the therapy by providing longitudinal information about the tumor state through a series of non-invasive biopsies.

 

Medgadget: Was it a challenge to design a device that selectively isolates CTCs, given how rare they are in blood samples?

Sarioglu: The challenge in identifying CTCs is not only that they are extremely rare in the blood but also even those from the same tissue are very heterogenous. Therefore, any technology for CTC detection needs to be extremely sensitive to the level that it can identify a single tumor cell among a billion blood cells and it should be able to achieve this specifically to prevent false positives. To address these challenges, we developed a microfluidic device that screens a blood sample at the individual cell level so that none of these rare tumor cells are missed. We also do this very quickly so that we can scan a tube of blood containing ~50 billion cells in reasonable time.

 

Medgadget: Please give us an overview of how these microfluidic chips work. How are they selective for CTCs? What volume of blood is required?

Sarioglu: Our device targets clusters of CTCs, which have long been known to have greater metastatic propensity than single CTCs and therefore uses the multicellularity of the CTC-clusters to discriminate them from the blood cells. We designed credit-card sized single use plastic chips that accept unprocessed blood sample. Inside the device, these highly metastatic CTC-clusters are held at what we call the bifurcating trap, while all other cells run unimpeded. The bifurcating trap divides the sample flow at a junction so that different cells in a cluster balance each other similar to a fulcrum. We placed tens of thousands of these bifurcating traps running in parallel over the chip so that it can process clinically relevant volumes of blood samples. We typically use a tube (~10 mL) of blood.

 

Medgadget: What types of characterization are possible once CTCs have been isolated within a chip? Do you envisage that the technique could lead to personalized medicine, whereby clinicians could find the most effective treatments by characterizing the cells?   

Sarioglu: The device isolates CTC clusters when they are on their way to metastasis. Therefore, a lot can be learned about the metastasis process besides using these cells in the clinic for personalized cancer treatment. The chip allows phenotypical and molecular analysis of isolated tumor cells. For basic research, isolated tumor cells can be studied to identify diagnostic and therapeutic targets. They can also be used in animal models for functional studies. In the clinic, RNA and DNA of isolated cells can be sequenced to identify the prevalent mutations to guide new targeted therapies. Drugs can potentially be tested on these patient-derived tumor cells in a petri dish, before they are administered to the patient.

 

Medgadget: Please give us an overview of how the chips are being used in clinical and basic research studies at present.

Sarioglu: We have already used the chip in clinical studies on blood samples collected from patients with breast, prostate cancers and melanoma in a collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital. We are currently working to apply the technology to other cancer types as well and collaborate with clinicians from Emory University to investigate the clinical utility of CTC-clusters. In terms of fundamental science applications, we work with cancer biologists to investigate the role of CTC-clusters in the metastatic process to identify ways to interfere with and impede the process.

Link: Prof. Sariogly’s Biomedical Microsystems Laboratory

Conn Hastings

Conn Hastings received a PhD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland for his work in drug delivery, investigating the potential of injectable hydrogels to deliver cells, drugs and nanoparticles in the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. After achieving his PhD and completing a year of postdoctoral research, Conn pursued a career in academic publishing, before becoming a full-time science writer and editor, combining his experience within the biomedical sciences with his passion for written communication.

Sponsored
Venture builder BHV Partners launches Conus Airway to improve anaesthesia  and respiratory surgery

Venture builder BHV Partners launches Conus Airway to improve anaesthesia and respiratory surgery

FDA Expands Indications for Use of FibroScan® for Comprehensive Liver Management

FDA Expands Indications for Use of FibroScan® for Comprehensive Liver Management

machineMD and Varjo revolutionize the diagnosis of brain disorders with a VR-based eye-tracking solution 

machineMD and Varjo revolutionize the diagnosis of brain disorders with a VR-based eye-tracking solution 

Ax-Surgi Hemostat gets FDA Clearance for Surgical Bleeding Control

Ax-Surgi Hemostat gets FDA Clearance for Surgical Bleeding Control

Clarius Report Finds 85% of Clinicians Believe Ultrasound Leads to Better Patient Outcomes

Clarius Report Finds 85% of Clinicians Believe Ultrasound Leads to Better Patient Outcomes

interviews & reviews
Levels Is Making Metabolism and Blood Glucose Tracking Accessible To Everyone

Levels Is Making Metabolism and Blood Glucose Tracking Accessible To Everyone

Imagene Profiles Cancer Biomarkers in Real Time

Imagene Profiles Cancer Biomarkers in Real Time

Empowering Stroke Survivors: Interview with Kirsten Carroll, CEO at Kandu Health

Empowering Stroke Survivors: Interview with Kirsten Carroll, CEO at Kandu Health

Alpha TAU Killing Tumors With Highly Targeted Alpha Radiation

Alpha TAU Killing Tumors With Highly Targeted Alpha Radiation

Neuroimmune Modulation for Inflammatory Disease: Interview with Dr. Simhambhatla, President and CEO of SetPoint Medical

Neuroimmune Modulation for Inflammatory Disease: Interview with Dr. Simhambhatla, President and CEO of SetPoint Medical

Exclusive Look at HandX Robotic-Assisted Surgical Device from Human Xtensions

Exclusive Look at HandX Robotic-Assisted Surgical Device from Human Xtensions

Balance Boards to Stay Active in the Offfice: Interview with Joel Heath, CEO of FluidStance 

Balance Boards to Stay Active in the Offfice: Interview with Joel Heath, CEO of FluidStance 

  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Submit
  • About
  • Back to top
Medgadget

Medical technologies transform the world! Join us and see the progress in real time. At Medgadget, we report the latest technology news, interview leaders in the field, and file dispatches from medical events around the world since 2004.

  • About
  • Editorial policies
  • Contact
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Submit press release
  • Advertise
© Medgadget, Inc. All rights reserved. | The Medical Revolution Will Be Blogged.
Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! Thank you!
Posting....
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Email