PARCA eNews – Aug. 27, 2015 – Netherland-based Quest Medical Imaging won FDA approval for its nanoparticle imaging system that highlights tumors during surgery, allowing the surgeon to more clearly see tumor extent.
The system won FDA approval as a “drug-device combination,” as patients are injected with an agent that “lights up” when detected by the camera. The system allows visualization of tumor margins, detection of other tumors or metastases, localization of small malignancies and accurate identification of lymph nodes containing metastatic cancer cells during surgery.
Called the Artemis Fluorescence Camera System, the hand-held device was shown safe and effective in a melanoma clinical trial conducted in collaboration with researcher Uli Wiesner, professor of materials science and engineering at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Wiesner developed the fluorescent “C dots” (Cornell Dots) fluorescent contrast agent used with the system.
C dots are biologically safe and stable and small enough to be easily transported across the body's structures and efficiently passed through the kidneys and out in urine. A single dot consists of several dye molecules encased in a silica shell that can be as small as 5 nanometers in diameter. To make the dots stick to tumor cells, organic molecules that bind to tumor surfaces or even specific locations within tumors can be attached to the shell.
Using the Artemis camera, the surgeon can see where the C dots have collected and been taken up by the tumor and lymphatic system.
Sources: FDA.gov, Ohio.com, Cornell Chronicle
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