One-step tumor detection from dynamic morphology tracking on aptamer grafted surface
A team of researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington (UT-Arlington) in Texas, USA has demonstrated a novel cancer cell detection method based on real time cell behavior tracking on engineered surfaces. A synthetic RNA molecule is coated on chip surface to identify cancer cells. The otherwise "calm and quiet" cells on this surface show interesting dancing behavior when their membrane receptors are matched to the surface RNA molecules. The behavior is quantified using interesting image processing techniques. Cancer cells are shown to demonstrate significantly different behavior than regular healthy cells. This phenomenon has potential to detect cancer in a tabletop setup thus leveraging doctors to perform frequent and economic tests with faster results and better disease prediction. The report appears in the December 2015 issue of the journal Technology.