laser treatment against cancer
March 2007
Holography Helps Measure Drug Action in Cells
By shining a laser on both the object and directly on the CCD chip of the digital camera, the system screens the pattern of light reflected back from the object and allows the camera to record very detailed information, including depth and motion on a scale of microns, or 0.0001 cm.
"This is the first time holography has been used to study the effects of a drug on living tissue," said David D. Nolte, the Purdue University physics professor who leads the research team. Nolte's team used the device to observe the response of tumors to anti-cancer drugs in real-time, 3-D images.
"We have moved beyond achieving a 3-D image to using that image for a direct physiological measure of what the drug is doing inside cancer cells. This provides valuable information about the effects of various doses of the drug and the time it takes each dose to become significantly effective."
June 2009
Gold nanoparticles and laser light burn cancerous tumors
Nanoparticles are metal structures that measure just one millionth of a meter with a diameter less than 10,000 times that of a hair. They can be selectively introduced into a patient’s body so that they penetrate only damaged cells. Thus, the treatment would affect only tumor tissues without damaging healthy ones, as happens with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
According to French researcher Romain Quidant, an ICREA researcher at the UPC’s Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) and a fellow of the Cellex Foundation, Barcelona , the idea is to introduce gold nanoparticles into tumor cells, by coating the nanoparticles with molecules that detect and go into the cancer cells to which laser light would subsequently be applied. Gold is biocompatible and is readily evacuated by body fluids.
The interaction between light and gold nanostructures is useful not only for the treatment of cancer but also for its diagnosis. Quidant is working on a chip that is made up of a multitude of metal nanostructures that are able to send a light signal when they come into contact with cancer markers.
May 2014
Light-based treatment to heal oral and skin cancer
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective treatment for easily accessible tumors such as oral and skin cancer.
Cancer cells absorb special drugs called photosensitizing agents, which are delivered to the tumor via the bloodstream or locally. Visible light causes the drug to react with oxygen and create a burst of free radicals that kill the tumor.
The May 2014 issue of the journal Nature Photonics, describes a new approach using near-infrared beams of light that, upon penetrating deep into the body, are converted into visible light that activates the drugs - photosensitizing agents - and destroys the tumor.
Holography Helps Measure Drug Action in Cells
By shining a laser on both the object and directly on the CCD chip of the digital camera, the system screens the pattern of light reflected back from the object and allows the camera to record very detailed information, including depth and motion on a scale of microns, or 0.0001 cm.
"This is the first time holography has been used to study the effects of a drug on living tissue," said David D. Nolte, the Purdue University physics professor who leads the research team. Nolte's team used the device to observe the response of tumors to anti-cancer drugs in real-time, 3-D images.
"We have moved beyond achieving a 3-D image to using that image for a direct physiological measure of what the drug is doing inside cancer cells. This provides valuable information about the effects of various doses of the drug and the time it takes each dose to become significantly effective."
June 2009
Gold nanoparticles and laser light burn cancerous tumors
Nanoparticles are metal structures that measure just one millionth of a meter with a diameter less than 10,000 times that of a hair. They can be selectively introduced into a patient’s body so that they penetrate only damaged cells. Thus, the treatment would affect only tumor tissues without damaging healthy ones, as happens with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
According to French researcher Romain Quidant, an ICREA researcher at the UPC’s Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) and a fellow of the Cellex Foundation, Barcelona , the idea is to introduce gold nanoparticles into tumor cells, by coating the nanoparticles with molecules that detect and go into the cancer cells to which laser light would subsequently be applied. Gold is biocompatible and is readily evacuated by body fluids.
The interaction between light and gold nanostructures is useful not only for the treatment of cancer but also for its diagnosis. Quidant is working on a chip that is made up of a multitude of metal nanostructures that are able to send a light signal when they come into contact with cancer markers.
May 2014
Light-based treatment to heal oral and skin cancer
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective treatment for easily accessible tumors such as oral and skin cancer.
Cancer cells absorb special drugs called photosensitizing agents, which are delivered to the tumor via the bloodstream or locally. Visible light causes the drug to react with oxygen and create a burst of free radicals that kill the tumor.
The May 2014 issue of the journal Nature Photonics, describes a new approach using near-infrared beams of light that, upon penetrating deep into the body, are converted into visible light that activates the drugs - photosensitizing agents - and destroys the tumor.