Cancer analysis via smartphone in just 45 minutes

New App should be able to reliably diagnose cancer

04/16/2015

Will complex procedures for cancer diagnosis soon become superfluous? US researchers led by Ralph Weissleder and Hakho Lee of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston report in the „Proceedings“ the US National Academy of Sciences („PNAS“) of a new smartphone app, with the analysis of blood and tissue samples in cancer suspected to cost only 1.70 euros. The cancer diagnosis app will be used primarily in developing countries and remote regions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of new cancers per year worldwide will rise to nearly 20 million by 2025. As a result, the need for low cost diagnostic procedures is high.

App for cancer diagnosis could have great benefits for people in developing countries
It takes less than 45 minutes to analyze the blood and tissue samples for cancer. In addition, it is as reliable as the usual laboratory diagnostics and costs only 1.70 euros. „The global burden of cancer, limited access to pathology in many regions, and new cell screening technologies are increasing the need for cost-effective, portable, and rapid diagnostic approaches available at the site of treatment“, explains the co-author of the study, Cesar Castro of the Massachusetts General Hospital. „The platform we have developed offers essential opportunities at exceptionally low cost.“ The procedure can also be extended to infectious diseases, the researchers report in the journal.

The app uses the so-called D3 system (Digital Difference Diagnosis), in which essentially blood or tissue samples are treated with specific antibodies. Subsequently, the images taken by the samples are transmitted via smartphone to a server and automatically analyzed. To make this possible, the researchers developed an imaging magnifying module - similar to a microscope - which is equipped with a button battery and an LED light source and can be mounted in front of the lens of the smartphone by means of a clip.

For the analysis of cancer, a blood or tissue sample is treated with microspheres. These attach themselves by antibodies to certain cancer markers. The sample is then photographed via the magnifying module with the camera of the smartphone. According to the researchers, the camera of an iPhone 4S (with a spatial resolution of two microns) is able to detect 14 square millimeters with more than 100,000 cells, which is much more than with a microscope.

The image is then compressed and sent encrypted to a server, from which the characteristic refraction patterns caused by the beads are examined. In addition, it separates cells and globules in fractions of a second. The result is then sent back to the smartphone. The entire process takes less than 45 minutes.

Smartphone app for cancer analysis is just as reliable as pathological examinations
First, the app procedure was tested on 25 women with suspected cervical cancer. The microspheres, which have a diameter of five to seven microns, carried antibodies against three tumor markers. The D3 system classified the samples either as malignant, tumor precursors or benign and was just as reliable as pathological procedures.

In another test, the smartphone application also distinguished between patients with and without lymphoma. Also, in human papillomavirus variant (HPV) 16 and 18 genetic material that can cause cervical cancer, the D3 system proved successful. „We expect the D3 platform to improve the breadth and depth of cancer testing in ways that are affordable and sustainable for those with limited resources“, explains white leather. „Leveraging the worldwide breakthrough in cell phone technology, the system enables the immediate selection of suspicious or high-risk cases, helping to avoid delays caused by limited pathology in these regions and reducing the need for patients to return to follow-up care return.“ Traveling to distant hospitals can therefore be avoided with the new procedure.

The researchers also report that "the price of $ 1.80 could drop even further in the future, and the process will be widely optimized." So soon also be able to analyze for pathogens. In addition, the researchers plan to improve the resolution of the module from the current 2 to about 0.6 microns. This allows the analysis of all cell types of mammals, it is further in the journal. (Ag)