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Nanotechnology May Find Early Disease

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 April 2006, 18:00 CDT

Ohio State University scientists say nanotechnology might one day help physicians detect the very earliest stages of cancer and other serious diseases.

The researchers say the early diagnoses would involve using nanotechnology to improve the quality of images produced by one of the most common diagnostic tools used in physicians' offices -- the ultrasound machine.

In laboratory experiments on mice, scientists found nano-sized particles injected into the animals improved the resulting images. The study is one of the first showing ultrasound can detect such tiny particles when they are inside the body, said Thomas Rosol, dean of OSU's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Given their tiny size, nobody thought it would be possible for ultrasound to detect nanoparticles, Rosol said. But not only can ultrasound waves sense nanoparticles, the particles can brighten the resulting image.

The long-term goal is to use this technology to improve our ability to identify very early cancers and other diseases, said Jun Liu, a study co-author and an assistant professor of biomedical engineering. We ultimately want to identify disease at its cellular level, at its very earliest stage.

The research appears in the journal Physics in Medicine and Biology.

Source: United Press International

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