They are now working on a hand-held instrument to detect oral cancer. It is expected to be ready in two years. The cancer detection technology uses a laser with a nano substrate to detect pre-cancerous and cancerous cells.
Use of laser to read the nature of cells is not new, but the signals that they produced were found to be weak and difficult to analyse. But the invention of the nano substrate (a nano material) placed on the tissue solved the problem. The nano substrate amplifies the signals and helps to analyse the results.
The simple theory behind is -for each type of tissue if it is normal, pre-cancerous or cancerous, there is a distinct Raman spectrum emitted by the laser. So signals coming from cancer tissue with those coming from normal tissue will be distinct.
The equipment will include a Raman nano-sensor to get an amplified signal from the tissue. The signals can be analysed at a central facility, and the result will be available within 30 minutes.
We used the method on samples of oral cancer, normal tissues and pre-cancerous tissues. The first set of positive results came two years ago," said Shantikumar V Nair, one of the three inventors of the technology. The department of biotechnology has provided the team Rs 60 lakh to design the gadget, expected to cost around Rs 10 lakh on commercial use.
While this is a preliminary test to detect cancer, scientists say gold-standard tests will have to confirm it. Nair, who is also the dean of research at Amrita University, said the new gadget will enable community level large scale screening without having to take tissue biopsies.
