Trapping bubbles in light and sound
Microbubbles are bubbles less than one millimetre in size that are part of everyday life in ways we do not often realise. These very small bubbles are key to the performance of inkjet printers; the taste and texture of foods; and the creation of lightweight materials. Hospitals currently use coated microbubbles to enhance contrast during ultrasound imaging, in the early diagnosis of heart diseases and cancers. In their efforts to transform bubbles into direct sensors at the microscale, researchers at NPL, University College London and the University of Oxford have trapped microbubbles within structures of light or sound, measuring forces as small as a few piconewton (trillionth of a newton) in the process. These two trapping techniques will soon be combined in a versatile and powerful manipulation tool, known as ‘sono‑optical tweezers’, allowing the characterisation of engineered microbubbles and their environment to an extent never previously achieved. The project team will then work to characterise the physics of drug delivery using microbubbles and the manufacture of innovative materials.
Radiotherapy doses to be more accurate
145
UK cancer patients survive each year due to NPL’s impact on the accuracy of the radiation dose they receive
Cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy treatments in future will be safer thanks to collaborative research by NPL and the University of Montreal and McGill University, Canada, which will result in improved measurement consistency. The scientists discovered a misconception on how charged particles (ionising electrons) are distributed locally while delivering a uniform dose to a tumour usinga special form of radiotherapy called ‘intensity modulated radiotherapy’ (IMRT). This work will impact a range of radiotherapy treatments – as the distribution of complex fields of charged particles is now better understood. Medical physicists can now calculate improved values of correction factors for their IMRT detectors, improving their safety and effectiveness.
Ultrasound screening for breast cancer
Whilst it’s early days, we’re very excited about its potential and we may well have something here which could have a huge and positive impact on cancer diagnosis and many thousands of women’s lives.”
Bajram Zeqiri, who led the ultrasound screening
for breast cancer’ study at NPL
A team of scientists from NPL and the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust have successfully completed an initial trial of a new, potentially more reliable, technique for screening breast cancer using ultrasound, and are now looking to develop the technique into a clinical device. Having received positive results for phantom imaging, NPL is now seeking funding to develop the work further.
Traceability established for new cancer therapy
Work from NPL scientists has established traceability for a molecular radiotherapy treatment for neuroendocrine tumours, usually found in the intestine or lungs andarising from hormone‑producing cells. The treatment involves the administration of a peptide radiolabelled with Lutetium‑177 (177Lu), which irradiates the widespread tumour cells without causing excessive damage to surrounding healthy tissue. After first establishing a link to the International Reference System by standardising 177Lu as part of an international comparison exercise, NPL invited UK and European hospitals to participate in a blind exercise to measure radioactivity in samples of the radionuclide. This enabled the hospitals to demonstrate traceability, ensuring regulatory compliance and patient safety.
Improving wound care
NPL is leading a £1.2 million project to improve the management of non‑healing wounds in the NHS by translating novel technology from the laboratory intoclinical practice. Non‑healing wounds not only cause pain, loss of sleep, reduced mobility and social isolation to patients, but also carry a significant financial burden. An estimated 340,000 people in the UK suffer from these wounds at a cost of £4,750 per patient, which is roughly 3% of national healthcare expenditure. The new wound management and diagnostic technology (RegeniTherix™) has the potential to improve healing times and cut costs. NPL’s role is to developand validate ‘multiplex’ biomarker assays that allow the status of wounds to be monitored and so guide treatment. The project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s ‘Invention for Innovation’ Programme and is a partnershipwith three companies (Neotherix, SensaPharm and Complement Genomics) and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.
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For more stories from 2012, please download our Annual Review (1.17 MB - PDF)