Description of Invention:
A newly developed device for measuring the dosage of photochemotherapy offers to significantly improve the effectiveness of such therapy. In photochemotherapy, a cancer patient is given a photosensitizing dye several days before treatment. Because the dye is retained for longer times in tumor tissue than normal tissue, by the time the optical radiation is administered, a far greater proportion of tumor cells will be killed by the radiation than normal cells; however, successful photochemotherapy is highly dependent upon the ability to deliver a sufficient amount of radiation to the entire tumor volume. Current dose-measuring devices, or dosimeters, have limitations because they do not provide a direct measure of the cumulative dose, or the intensity of the signal they produce for the purpose of measurement is often so low that it cannot be measured accurately. This newly developed dosimeter overcomes such limitations by attaching a chemical cell to the end of a fiber optic cable. This cell contains a photobleachable chemical that accurately measures the amount of energy being directed at the tumor and transmits a signal back through the fiber optic cable to a detection device. This system provides a direct measurement of cumulative dosages of optical radiation, making it easier to more accurately deliver a precise amount of radiation to the target cells.
Inventors:
RJ Landry (FDA) S Matchette (FDA) GN Merberg (FDA)
Patent Status:
DHHS Reference No. E-241-1992/0 --
U.S. Patent 5,441,530 issued 15 Aug 1995
U.S. Patent 5,527,349 issued 18 Jun 1996
For Additional Information Please Contact: Michael Shmilovich J.D.
NIH Office of Technology Transfer
6011 Executive Blvd, Suite 325
Rockville, MD 20852-3804
Phone: (301) 435-5019
Email: shmilovm@mail.nih.gov
Fax: (301) 402-0220
