Real-Time Optical Feedback for the Control of In Vivo Nanoparticle Concentration

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is an immediate and urgent clinical need to enhance the monitoring of the delivery and accuracy of targeted drug delivery, the onset and spread of cancers, and the longitudinal monitoring of cancer treatments. Nanotechnology holds the promise to address this problem. A "smart" particle capable of selective targeting would augment the physician's tools needed for correct diagnosis and allow the treatment and follow-up procedures to be monitored in real-time. In an ideal clinical study, each subject would be injected with a precise number of nanoparticles related to the weight and tumor-burden of the subject in order to achieve a satisfactory therapeutic result. We propose that Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc. will join with the Biomedical Engineering Department at Louisiana Tech University (Ruston, LA) to test the feasibility of an inexpensive, clinically applicable optical tool to provide instantaneous quantitative information to support the delivery and circulation of therapeutically relevant nanoparticles. Independently, Tech will develop a clinical prototype, to be placed on a finger or other optically accessible location, in order to monitor the accuracy of the delivered dose and assess the effective circulation time immediately after intravenous delivery but prior to therapeutic intervention. The feasibility of the prototype to provide three clinical objectives will be assessed: (1) real- time feedback for practitioners to provide instantaneous initial dose verification, (2) real-time feedback providing therapeutic dose verification (np*min/mL), which is a pharmacokinetic analysis integrating the delivered dose and the circulation time, and (3) an alarm system which identifies a uncharacteristic shortened circulation time, which could help predict a physiological reaction to the nanoparticles, and which may require a medical intervention. This project's societal goals are to "accelerate work in nanotechnology, ...linking nanotechnology into cancer applications ... to dramatically reduce the adverse effects of cancer with multifunctional, targeted devices capable of bypassing biological barriers to deliver multiple therapeutic agents in high concentrations directly to cancer cells and tissues while sparing healthy tissue." This grant is also designed to deal with the problems of cancer health disparities, by developing easy-to-use cost-conscious instrumentation designed specifically to address the "impact of many factors, including physician experience, hospital environment, and the socio-demographics of each patient's neighborhood". PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Nanoparticles hold significant promise for new and improved therapeutic and imaging applications and are being widely investigated. Preclinical and clinical use is affected by the "bio-availability" of these materials in vivo. This research proposal will develop a new device for real-time tracking of circulation kinetics for these new materials.