SBIR Phase I: Sub-Cellular Tunable Confocal MEMS Scanner for Early Cancer Detection

SBIR 第一阶段：用于早期癌症检测的亚细胞可调谐共焦 MEMS 扫描仪

• 批准号: 1014273
• 负责人: Ting Shen
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: NanoLite Systems LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1014273&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Sub; Cellular; Tunable

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to develop a handheld sub-cellular confocal microscope using Micro-Electro-Mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies for non-invasive and early detection of cancers. 85% of cancers arise in epithelium and occur in the topmost 200 microns of tissues, including oral, skin, cervical, and many other cancers. Epithelial cancers such as oral cancer at early stages are rarely painful and hard to detect without invasive biopsy or radiation-based imaging like CT scan. The proposed handheld microscope, consisting of confocal MEMS imaging scanners with mechanically tunable resolution and field-of-view (FOV), allows doctors to closely exam epithelial layers at multiple depths without mechanical cutting, and identify early signs of cancers through morphologic changes and alternations in tissue architectures. The tunability of the resolution and FOV is achieved by active micro-mechanical adjustment on-chip. A handheld prototype will be built to test the diagnostic capabilities by utilizing ex vivo tissue samples and measuring tissue morphology and used in future clinical trials to identify pre-cancer in vivo relative to the gold standard of histo-pathology. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to enable a new class of clinical micro-imaging tools that can significantly improve early diagnosis of epithelial cancers leading towards individualized, minimally invasive treatment and improves long-term survival rates. Current diagnostic methods require recurring surgical biopsy of benign lesions and often detect malignant change too late for restorative treatment. The key innovation of this technology is that it translates confocal microscopy into in vivo application using miniature optics, optical fibers, tunable MEMS design and robust packaging technologies to provide clinicians and researchers a real-time 3D view of tissue cellular structure, without removal of tissue. This technology offers a potential breakthrough in non-invasive and radiation-free cancer diagnostics. The handheld scanner can not only be used to spot tumors at a very early stage and determine how far the cancer has progressed, it also can be used to monitor the tumor during treatment, and track the efficiency of therapy adopted, thus opening up a whole new opportunity to conquer cancers. The core technology builds on the strengths of the well-developed semiconductor industry and can potentially bring more intelligence to cancer imaging and lower healthcare cost.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目提出开发一种手持式亚细胞共聚焦显微镜，使用微机电系统（MEMS）技术进行非侵入性和早期癌症检测。85%的癌症发生在上皮细胞中，并发生在最上面200微米的组织中，包括口腔，皮肤，宫颈和许多其他癌症。上皮癌如口腔癌在早期阶段很少疼痛，如果没有侵入性活检或基于辐射的成像如CT扫描，很难检测到。拟议的手持式显微镜由具有机械可调分辨率和视场（FOV）的共焦MEMS成像扫描仪组成，允许医生在多个深度处密切检查上皮层，而无需机械切割，并通过组织结构的形态变化和变化来识别癌症的早期迹象。分辨率和视场的可调谐性通过片上主动微机械调节来实现。将建立一个手持原型，通过利用离体组织样本和测量组织形态来测试诊断能力，并用于未来的临床试验，以相对于组织病理学的金标准来识别体内癌前病变。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是实现一类新的临床显微成像工具，可以显着改善上皮癌的早期诊断，从而实现个性化，微创治疗，并提高长期生存率。目前的诊断方法需要对良性病变进行反复的手术活检，并且经常发现恶性变化，而对于恢复性治疗来说为时已晚。这项技术的关键创新在于，它将共聚焦显微镜转化为体内应用，使用微型光学器件，光纤，可调MEMS设计和坚固的包装技术，为临床医生和研究人员提供组织细胞结构的实时3D视图，而无需去除组织。这项技术为非侵入性和无辐射癌症诊断提供了潜在的突破。手持式扫描仪不仅可以用于在非常早期的阶段发现肿瘤并确定癌症的进展程度，还可以用于在治疗期间监测肿瘤，并跟踪所采用的治疗效果，从而为征服癌症开辟了全新的机会。该核心技术建立在发达的半导体行业的优势之上，有可能为癌症成像带来更多的智能，并降低医疗成本。