When urine is dropped into the sensor and light is irradiated, cancer metabolite signals are magnified on the sensing unit surface area, making it possible to identify cancer. A number of presently used cancer diagnosis techniques find the presence of cancer through blood tests or radiological techniques and detect cancer through histological analysis. It can be used for a new cancer medical diagnosis method utilizing urine, on-site quick cancer client screening, and recurrence tracking innovation after cancer patient treatment. Senior researcher Ho Sang Jung, who is in charge of the research, said, “In the case of cancers where the diagnosis method is not well known, such as pancreatic cancer, it is difficult to identify and the survival rate after initial medical diagnosis is low.
Schematic illustration of Development of on-site suitable strip-type sensing unit for cancer diagnosis through the amplification of urine metabolites established by Dr. Ho Sang Jungs research group at Korea Institute of Materials Science. Credit: Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS).
A research team has been successful in developing a strip-type urine sensor that can magnify the light signal of metabolites in urine and in detecting cancer in the field. This outcome came from an effort to discover metabolites in urine that was led by Dr. Ho Sang Jung of the Surface & & Nano Materials Divison of the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), a government-funded research study institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT in joint research performed with Professor Junsuk Rho of POSTECH and Professor Samjin Choi of Kyung Hee University Medical School.
This technology can be looked for the assessment of prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer without an extra analysis process by just irradiating light after a small volume (10uL) of urine dropping at the time of requirement for a test. The test gadget is manufactured in the kind of a strip so that cancer can be diagnosed rapidly and with high sensitivity in the field.
The research study group focused on the distinction in metabolomic components present in the urine of cancer clients and regular individuals. When cancer cells proliferate in the body, they produce various metabolites into urine due to unusual metabolism. In order to categorize this as an existing technology, big and pricey devices was required, limiting on-site field application. The research study team established a surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensor that amplifies the optical signal of metabolites in urine more than 1 billion times by forming a coral-shaped plasmonic nanomaterial on permeable paper. When urine is dropped into the sensor and light is irradiated, cancer metabolite signals are magnified on the sensor surface area, making it possible to identify cancer. The research group used a synthetic intelligence-based analysis method to the gotten spectral signal and prospered in differentiating up to 99% of prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer patients from regular people.
A number of currently utilized cancer medical diagnosis methods discover the existence of cancer through blood tests or radiological techniques and detect cancer through histological analysis. Numerous individuals try to track the event of cancer through yearly health examinations, but in many cases, cancer is discovered late and treatment is delayed or death occurs. It can be used for a new cancer medical diagnosis method using urine, on-site quick cancer client screening, and reoccurrence monitoring innovation after cancer patient treatment.
Senior researcher Ho Sang Jung, who is in charge of the research, stated, “In the case of cancers where the medical diagnosis technique is not popular, such as pancreatic cancer, it is tough to find and the survival rate after initial medical diagnosis is low. It is known that 14 pancreatic cancer clients pass away every day in Korea, and the economic expense per person is about 63 million won each year.” He continued, “Since early diagnosis is the most important for incurable illness such as cancer, we expect this technology to supply a new diagnostic method.”.
This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Program of the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) and the National Research Foundation of Korea. In addition, the research outcomes were published on January 9th in Bioelectronics and biosensors (If: 12.5, JCR top < < 3%), a world-renowned journal in the field of biosensors. The research team obtained associated patents in Korea and the United States.
Presently, the research team is slowly increasing the types of cancer that can be detected by evaluating the urine of prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer patients.
Recommendation: "3D plasmonic coral nanoarchitecture paper for label-free human urine sensing and deep learning-assisted cancer screening" by Vo Thi Nhat Linh, Min-Young Lee, Jungho Mun, Yeseul Kim, Hongyoon Kim, In Woong Han, Sung-Gyu Park, Samjin Choi, Dong-Ho Kim, Junsuk Rho and Ho Sang Jung, 9 January 2023, Biosensors and Bioelectronics.DOI: 10.1016/ j.bios.2023.115076.