Engineers measure the Young’s modulus of materials every day. Now, tumors have been added to that list.
A team of engineers at USC has developed an instrument the size of a backpack that accurately identifies the Young’s modulus of a tumor. According to preliminary tests conducted by the researchers, aggressive tumors tend to be stiffer. Identifying the stiffness of the tumor may help physicians tailor their treatment approach.
“The device leaves the sample completely undamaged, which allows researchers to still perform other tests on it,” said Mark Harrison, the study’s lead author and a USC Viterbi School of Engineering graduate student researcher.
How the USC detector differs from others
Other detectors typically require lengthy alignment procedures and are extremely sensitive to environmental vibration. The USC instrument differs in that it uses fiber optics; the device squishes a sample on top of the optical fiber, which in turn changes the embedded laser’s polarization in a way that allows the researchers to figure out the Young’s modulus.
“Instruments able to measure a material’s Young’s modulus already existed, but they’re large and require calibration each time they’re moved,” said Professor Andrea Armani, one of the study’s corresponding authors. “Our device could be carried from hospital room to hospital room and doesn’t need an engineer to operate it.”
Running clinical trials on the device
“This advancement from Dr. Armani is so exciting, as we now have a new dimension of a tumor to measure,” added David Agus, a USC professor of medicine and engineering. “We are studying the role of Young’s modulus together with Dr. Armani to help personalize and improve a cancer patient’s care.”
The engineers have already applied for a patent. The next step is to run clinical trials with the help of Agus and his team at the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine.
A detailed account of their research was recently published in the journal Applied Physics Letters. For more information, visit USC`s website.