MINIMALLY INVASIVE PROBE FOR IN-VIVO DETECTION OF IRON

患有库利氏贫血的年轻患者经历了一段 威胁到铁的积累，特别是在心脏和肝脏。 通过螯合药物有效地清除沉淀铁需要及时 并准确评估患者体内的铁水平。有一件急事 需要开发一种快速、廉价和安全的方法来确定 库利氏贫血患者脏器组织中铁含量的变化。 这份拟议的合同旨在开发一种创新的探测器，以 就地、实时检测铁矿床，以及 某些其他的微量元素。这项技术是基于x射线的。 组装在微创3.2 mm尖端的荧光系统 直径探头。可以引入探头来代替活组织检查针， 无论是通过腹腔镜术还是通过各种解剖通道。它是 用来与心脏、肝脏和其他器官进行亲密接触的 直接读取组织中的微量元素含量。创新 引入了对现有技术的重大改进，并为 第一次允许检测人体组织中的微量元素 病人的床边。

Young patients suffering from Cooley's anemia experience a life threatening accumulation of iron, particularly in the heart and liver. Effective removal of deposited iron by chelating drugs requires a timely and accurate assessment of iron level in the patient. There is an urgent need for development of a rapid, inexpensive and safe method to determine the iron concentration in the organ tissues of Cooley's anemia patients. This proposed contract address the development of an innovative probe for in-situ, real-time detection of iron deposits, as well as levels of certain other trace elements. The technology is based upon a x-ray fluorescence system assembled at the tip of a minimally-invasive 3.2 mm diameter probe. The probe can be introduced in place of a biopsy needle, either laparoscopically or through various anatomical passageways. It is designed to make intimate contact with heart, liver, and other organ tissues to take a direct reading of trace element content. The innovation introduced is a significant improvement over existing technology and for the first time, allows the detection of trace elements in body tissues at the patient's bedside.