King’s College London Scientists Develop Painless Nanoneedle Patch
Lead author of a new study, Ciro Chiappini, PhD, says this new technology could lead to advancements in personalized medicine
Scientists at King’s College London have developed a nanoneedle patch that offers a painless alternative to biopsies that also delivers quicker and more accurate results.
As reported by Phys Org, new research published in Nature Nanotechnology shows that these new patches could be the future of diagnostics. As common as traditional biopsies are, they can be painful and often patients are deterred from follow-ups as well as seeking out treatment and early diagnosis.
“We have been working on nanoneedles for twelve years, but this is our most exciting development yet. It opens a world of possibilities for people with brain cancer, Alzheimer’s, and for advancing personalized medicine. It will allow scientists—and eventually clinicians—to study disease in real time like never before.” said Ciro Chiappini, PhD, senior lecturer at King’s College London and lead author of the study.
The lead author of the study, Ciro Chiappini, PhD, senior lecturer at King’s College London said the new development doesn’t disrupt the cell membrane in a way that cannot be repaired. (Photo copyright: King’s College London)
How it Works
The patches are made up of tens of millions of microscopic needles that are 1,000 times thinner than a human hair and do not remove tissue. This causes no damage and pain while the nanoneedles extract molecular fingerprints from the tissue. The sample is then analyzed using both mass spectrometry and artificial intelligence.
“This approach provides multidimensional molecular information from different types of cells within the same tissue. Traditional biopsies simply cannot do that. And because the process does not destroy the tissue, we can sample the same tissue multiple times, which was previously impossible.” said Chiappini of the process. The study focused on lipids and applied the patch to brain cancer tissue of human origin and mice.
Potential Limitations
Additional reporting by Science News looks into some of the possible drawbacks of the technology.
The patch can’t sample tissue that exists deeper in the body, yet Chiappini says that physicians can use the patch during surgery to get fast results on tissue they are operating on. “It’s very much a surface technology, which is potentially [both] a limitation and a feature,” he says.
Phys Org explained the potential during brain surgery. A surgeon would apply a patch to a “suspicious area” and receive results within 20 minutes, providing the surgical team with impactful information in real-time.
Less Pain, More Gain?
It is no secret that patients will often try to avoid or put off uncomfortable medical procedures like biopsies. This new development is part of an ongoing larger trend—making medical procedures more appealing to encourage higher percentages of patients to seek care and receive treatment. As recently reported by Dark Daily in the article entitled, “University of Texas Study Shows Self-Collection Boosts Cancer Screenings among Women,” a new at-home collection kit to replace a traditional Pap smear may help boost early detection of cervical cancer in women.
This new technology and trend toward less painful procedures suggests that patients will be more inclined to participate in pathology exams if they were less invasive and uncomfortable or painful. Pathology professionals should keep on eye on future developments in this space.
Biopsies are not yet ready to become obsolete, as the patch is still in its early stages and more research is needed.
— Ashley Croce
