A Nigerian born scientist, Samuel Achilefu, has won the
prestigious St. Louis Award for 2014 for creating cancer-visualising glasses.
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| Dr. Samuel Achilefu wearing his award-winning cancer seeing glasses. Credit: Washington University School of Medicine |
Dr.Achilefu, a professor of radiology and biomedical
engineering, and his team developed the imaging technology in cancer diagnosis
into a wearable night vision-like goggles so surgeons could see the cancer
cells while operating.
“They basically have to operate in the dark,” says 52-year-old
Dr.Achilefu.
“I thought, what if we create something that lets you see
things that aren’t available to the ordinary human eye.”
Achilefu won a scholarship from the French government to
study at the University of Nancy and is the 87th person to receive the annual
award since it was established in 1931. Married with two young children, Achilefu moved to St. Louis
after he was hired by Mallinckrodt to start a new research department.
“Our efforts start with two words: ‘What if?’” Achilefu said
during his acceptance speech.
“These words may sound simple, but they embody the belief
that each person has the potential to make a difference, if only he or she can
take the time to understand the problem.” The researchers’ technology requires two steps: First,
surgeons inject a tiny quantity of an infrared fluorescent marker into the
patient’s bloodstream. The peptides contained in the marker enables it to
locate cancer cells and buries itself inside.
After the tracer flows through a patient’s body and clears
from non-cancerous tissue – which lasts about four hours – the operation would
begin. Wearing the goggle, the doctor can inspect tumours under an infra red
light that reacts with the dye, causing cancer cells to glow from within.
In June 2015, the goggles were used on humans for the first
time by surgeons at the Washington
University School of Medicine.
Glasses at work
Four patients suffering from breast cancer and over two
dozen patients with melanoma or liver cancer have been operated on using the
goggles since they were developed. “The goggles function fantastically,” says Ryan Fields, a
surgical oncologist who is collaborating with Achilefu to improve on the
technology. “They allow us to see the cells in real time, which is
critical. Because the marker has not yet been Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved,
doctors are currently using a different, somewhat inferior marker that also
reacts with infrared light.”
Julie Margenthaler, a breast cancer surgeon, says tens of
thousands of women who had had breast cancer lumpectomies go back for second
operations every year because of the inability to see the microscopic extent of
the tumours. “Imagine what it would mean if these glasses eliminated the need
for follow-up surgery and the associated pain, inconvenience and anxiety.”
Achilefu and his team began work in 2012 after they received
USD2.8 million (R32 million) grant from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). Before then, they had been working on a lean budget provided
by the Department of Defence’s Breast Cancer Research Program. After it was developed, the team spent years testing the
technology on mice, rats, and rabbits to confirm the efficacy of the goggles.
“Nobody would believe us until we showed that the goggles work,” Achilefu says.
The FDA are still reviewing the goggles and a related dye Achilefu
and his co-researchers developed.
He expresses that he intends to keep Washington University
as the primary centre for clinical trials to evaluate the technology in
patients.
“Making a difference in society should be the goal of
everybody,” he concludes.
Source: premiumtimesng
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