Background and problem statement
Metastases occur when tumor cells become detached from the tumor and end up in other organs via the blood. By capturing these cells from the blood, researchers can learn more about the changes that take place in the tumor. In this way it is possible to conduct research into how, for example, cancer cells change during treatment. To capture these cells, iron particles are used that stick specifically to tumor cells, after which a magnet is used to separate them from the other cells. Unfortunately, in practice there are always a number of healthy cells to which the iron particles stick, resulting in a mixture of healthy and tumor cells. Researchers prefer to remove tumor cells one by one, so that they can also investigate the differences between the tumor cells.
Research direction/proposed solution
To extract a single tumor cell from this solution of cells, a setup has been created at the University of Twente in which a very small magnetic needle can be used to remove a single cell from the solution. In this way, the tumor cells can be separated and examined one by one. Unfortunately, this is very manual and takes a long time. To improve this equipment and make it usable for researchers, the device will be further developed in this project to ensure that researchers can use it in their research. In addition, companies will be sought that want to further develop and sell this equipment in order to give other researchers the opportunity to use this technique.
Relevance
In order to provide good treatments, a lot of knowledge about the progression of cancer is first required. The equipment developed in this project will help researchers learn more about this and hopefully contribute to improving future cancer treatment
Research questions
In this project, the current device will be improved to ensure that several researchers can properly obtain single tumor cells with this technology and thus conduct better research into the differences between tumor cells, but also the changes in tumor cells during treatment.
Research design
During this project, experienced technicians from the University of Twente, with the help of scientists, will develop the technique developed by researchers into a usable device that can pick up single cells sufficiently quickly.
Expected outcomes
By the end of the project, it is expected that there will be a device that can be used to isolate single tumor cells. Commercial parties will also have been approached to further develop the technology.
Description of steps needed to implement results
For research in which the University of Twente is involved, implementation will take place directly with the manufactured device as much as possible. Further implementation will require more devices to be built, for which funding will need to be available. It is expected that a commercial party will also have to be involved for this step.
2023-11-22 01:14:46
#Magnetic #needle #individual #cancer #cell #isolation
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