Breast Cancer Detection
Recent statistics published by the American Cancer Society
show that approximately one in nine women in the United States
will develop breast cancer. Now, early detection has a new weapon.
An advanced method for screening breast cancer using technology
developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is expected
to be widely available in U.S. medical facilities and in selected
foreign markets by the end of the year. In December of last year,
OmniCorder Technologies, Inc., of Stony Brook, New York, received
510K clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to
market the company's innovative BioScan System.TM
The BioScan System has been used to locate and confirm the
presence of a cancerous breast lesion by detecting the cancer's
ability to recruit a new blood supply--one of the hallmarks of
a malignant lesion. Studies have determined that cancer cells
exude nitric oxide. This causes changes in blood flow and temperature
in tissue surrounding cancer, which can then be detected by the
extremely heat-sensitive BioScan System sensor.
OmniCorder owns the exclusive, worldwide licenses to use the
quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) sensor for biological
applications, including disease detection. The digital sensor
detects the infrared energy emitted from the body and, therefore,
"sees" the minute differences associated with the local
increase in blood flow changes. In addition to the BioScan System,
the QWIP sensor, originally designed for planetary exploration
and terrestrial surveillance, has also been useful in locating
hot spots during fires and while observing volcanoes. The camera
can see radiation at wavelengths invisible to the human eye.
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OmniCorder Technologies,
Inc.'s BioScan TM
System detects blood flow differences associated with cancerous
cells. |
As a cancer-detection device, the detector is sensitive to
temperature differences of less than .01 degrees Celsius and
detects the slightest rise in temperature in tissue surrounding
cancer cells. Just like having your picture taken with a video
camera, it causes no discomfort to the patient and uses no ionizing
radiation.
"Since we announced the BioScan System's clearance by
the FDA, we have been inundated with requests to install and
test the unit in clinics and hospitals across the country and
overseas for a variety of cancer, as well as other disease applications,"
says OmniCorder's president and CEO, Mark Fauci.
At the moment, not only is the BioScan System being used to
detect cancerous legions, but it is also being tested as a monitoring
device during cancer treatment. The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
in Boston, Massachusetts, is testing several new classes of anti-cancer
products that are designed specifically to inhibit the growth
of cancer by greatly reducing the blood supply to it. Dana-Farber
doctors are using the BioScan System to detect important treatment-induced
changes in an array of cancerous lesions of the breast and skin,
among others.
Unlike mammography, which detects calcification associated
with cancer cells after they are well into development, the BioScan
System detects blood flow differences associated with cancerous
cells. Blood flow differences are known to occur in the earliest
stages of cancer development. The goal of this technology is
to reduce the amount of time it takes to detect a lesion, allowing
for much earlier treatment intervention and, therefore, better
the survival rates.
BioScan SystemTM is a trademark of OmniCorder Technologies,
Inc.
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