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Sergey's Project Page - RISE summer 2005 |
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Intern: Creative Studies, University of California Santa Barbara
Mentor: Badriprasad Ananthanarayanan
Faculty Supervisor: Matthew Tirrell
Department: MRL |
IDENTIFYING SIGNATURE MOVEMENT PATTERNS FOR CANCEROUS CELLS
In order to combat cancer effectively it is essential to detect
the malignancy in a very early stage. It has been found that a correlation
between cell motility and metastatic potential exists. Visual gradient
systems have been shown to characterize metastatic potential based on in
vitro single cell behavior with a75% accuracy. These previous studies point
to a difference in cell motility; creating the goal of developing a computer
assisted diagnosis system for cancer. By placing a single cell onto a cell
bed of elastomeric microneedles, the isolated traction and adhesion forces
of the cell’s motility can be measured. Using this technique a new key
parameter is determined via time-lapse video microscopy. Isolated mechanical
force with a direction and a resolution in time may allow identification of
signature patterns for cancerous cell movement. The automated diagnosis
system would use a fine needle aspirate sample from a tissue region of
interest that would be placed onto a cell bed and analyzed via an automated
microscopy procedure equipped with neuronal net algorithms. Fine needle
aspirations would allow for a test of metastatic potential of suspect
tissues earlier then conventional imaging techniques.
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