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Monday, 29th January 2007 (5759 views)

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) could help to improve future cancer detection and diagnosis, according to researchers at Stanford Engineering.

Professor Butrus Khuri-Yakub and his team are working on a range of innovations that will help to boost the potential uses of PAI in detecting diseases such as cancer and atherosclerosis, using gold nanotechnology, reports the Stanford Daily. In the long-term, the new technology could significantly improve patient treatment and survival rates.

Scientists are working with gold nanoparticles that are around 300 billionths of a metre in diameter and hope to be able to attach the nanoparticles to proteins to highlight the presence of tumours via linking directly with cancer cells and therefore reveal exactly where the tumour is located.

In addition, the nanoparticles will also be able to ensure that the results of the PAI scans are clearer because of their ability to absorb various frequencies of laser light, which can make them appear clearer and more defined.

Various experiments in to the use of gold nanoparticles and PAI have already begun with the support of Sam Gambhir, a professor of radiology in the school of medicine at Stanford.

 

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