Scientists at MIT have developed an imaging system, named DOLPHIN, which could enable them to find tiny tumors, as small as a couple of hundred cells, deep within the body. In a new study (“Deep-tissue optical imaging of near cellular-sized features”), published in Scientific Reports, the researchers used their imaging system, which relies on near-infrared light, to track a 0.1-mm fluorescent probe through the digestive tract of a living mouse. They also showed that they can detect a signal to a tissue depth of 8 cm, far deeper than any existing biomedical optical imaging technique. The researchers hope to adapt their imaging technology for early diagnosis of ovarian and other cancers that are currently difficult to detect until late stages. “We want to be able to find cancer much earlier,” said Angela Belcher, PhD, the James Mason Crafts professor of biological engineering and materials science at MIT, a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and the newly-appointed head of MIT’s department of biological engineering. “Our goal is to find tiny tumors, and do so in a noninvasive way.”
