NEEDLE-LESS TO SAY: Nanopatch could replace some biopsies
Diane Joy Galos
Goodbye biopsy, hello smart patch — now, a new nanotechnology innovation that collects molecular data from living cells painlessly might pave the way for faster and less invasive disease diagnosis.
According to a research published June 16 in Nature Nanotechnology, the 8-by-8 millimeter patch works painlessly and delivers results within minutes, contrary to traditional biopsies that are often invasive and time-consuming.
Fundings by the European Research Council's Starting Grant program, Wellcome Leap, and UK Research and Innovation’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Medical Research Council provided essential resources to make this study possible.
The false-color image shows smooth muscle cells resting on a turquoise patch filled with nanoneedles.
These cells, taken from a human coronary artery, sit on the patch designed to eliminate the need for certain biopsies.
Researchers say the patch, containing tens of millions of tiny needles, can instantly detect cellular changes that can potentially make biopsies obsolete.
The patch’s needles are made of porous silicone and have tips just 50 nanometers wide, approximately 60 atoms across.
“It’s not an invasive method, because the tip size is very small, and it doesn’t disrupt the cell membrane in a way that cannot be repaired,” says study lead author Ciro Chiappini of King’s College London.
These nanoneedles penetrate cell membranes without causing damage, extracting proteins, lipids, and messenger RNA.
For this study, scientists focused on lipids — fatty molecules critical to cellular functions. They tested the patch on brain cancer tissues from human biopsies and lab mice.
Mass spectrometry mapped lipid data from each part of the patch. Researchers then used AI to compare lipid profiles from patch samples with results from conventional biopsies.
Out of 27 samples, 25 yielded similar diagnostic data which suggests the patch can detect tumors and monitor treatment.
Although the current study focused on lipids and gliomas, Chiappini says the patch could soon analyze proteins and mRNA too.
“This technology is especially promising for repeated, nondestructive sampling and mapping of live tissues,” says Thanh Nho Do, a biomedical engineer from the University of New South Wales.
Do notes the patch is particularly useful for monitoring fast-changing tumors like gliomas, though it cannot reach deeper tissues.
Chiappini agrees, adding, “It’s very much a surface technology, which is potentially [both] a limitation and a feature.”
He sees the patch being useful during surgeries or screenings for conditions like oral cancer, eye diseases, and atherosclerosis. It may also help monitor healing in wounds that may offer doctors rapid, accurate feedback.
The innovation emerged from interdisciplinary collaboration combining nanoengineering, clinical oncology, cell biology, and artificial intelligence to pioneer this new method.
Needless to say, though still in development, this innovation may one day patch up the problems of painful, invasive diagnostics towards a faster, safer and more effective alternative.