MINIMALLY INVASIVE PROBE FOR IN-VIVO DETECTION OF IRON

患有库利氏贫血症的年轻患者经历了 威胁铁的积累，特别是在心脏和肝脏。 螯合药物有效去除沉积铁需要及时 并准确评估患者体内的铁水平。目前迫切 需要开发一种快速、廉价和安全的方法来确定 库利氏贫血患者器官组织中的铁浓度。 该合同旨在开发一种创新的探头， 现场实时检测铁沉积物，以及 其他微量元素。这项技术是基于X射线 荧光系统组装在微创3.2 mm 直径探头。探针可以代替活组织检查针引入， 或者通过腹腔镜或者通过各种解剖通道。是 旨在与心脏、肝脏和其他器官进行亲密接触 直接阅读微量元素含量。创新 这是对现有技术的重大改进， 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.