Health & Medicine, Singapore (Commonwealth Union) – Gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer, is a type of cancer that affects the lining of the stomach. It is one of the most common cancers worldwide. This disease is more common in men than women and typically affects individuals over the age of 50.
There are several factors that can increase the risk of developing gastric cancer, including a family history of the disease, a diet high in salty and smoked foods, chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a bacterial infection such as H. pylori that can cause inflammation of the stomach lining and a history of stomach polyps or stomach surgery.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) could assist in enhancing the treatment of this cancer with the improvement of the precision of radiotherapy, which is generally utilized in combination with treatment options such as surgery and others.
For modern radiotherapy, being specific in targeting tumor tissue while lowering damage to healthy tissue is vital. But lesser efficacy and variable results are a challenge as a result of patient diversity, treatment uncertainty, as well as differences in delivery types. The tracking of the dose of radiation given and absorbed in real-time, specifically in the gastrointestinal tract, may improve the specific impact of radiotherapy enhancing its effectiveness, however, it remains laborious to achieve. In addition, the present techniques utilized in monitoring biochemical indicators like pH as well as temperature have not been sufficient for the comprehensive evaluation of radiotherapy as indicated by researchers.
In tackling this obstacle, a team of researchers led by Professor Liu Xiaogang of the Department of Chemistry under the NUS Faculty of Science joined hands with researchers from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Tsinghua University as well as Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, which formed an ingestible X-ray dosimeter which can identify a radiation dose in real-time. The combination of this novel capsule design along with a neural-network-based regression model capable of calculating radiation dose from the details gathered by the capsule, the team found discovered that they can give roughly 5 times more accurate tracking of the dose delivered than the present standard methods, indicated the researchers.
Clinical dosimeters like metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, and thermoluminescence sensors, along with optically excited films are generally placed directly on or close to the skin of the patient to make an estimation of the radiation dose taken at the target area. Even though such dosimetry having electronic portal imaging devices were evaluated on prior occasions for treatment verification, the devices were not economical and, what’s more, they take in radiation and reduce the intended dose of radiation for patients. The ingestible sensors are restricted to pH and pressure tracking, and there is a requirement for an economical swallowable sensor capable of simultaneously tracking biochemical indicators along with X-ray dose absorption as gastrointestinal radiotherapy takes place.
In tackling these restrictions, Professor Liu and his researchers produced the novel ingestible X-ray dosimeter capsule having the ability to gauge the dose of radiation and physiological alterations in pH and temperature in real-time as gastrointestinal radiotherapy takes place. The primary features of the capsule consisted of a flexible optical fiber encapsulated with nano scintillators that illuminate when radiation is present, a pH-responsive film, a fluidic module having many inlets for dynamic gastric fluid sampling, 2 sensors for dose and pH gaging, a microcontroller circuit board having the ability to process photoelectric signals to be sent to a mobile application, as well as a button-sized silver oxide battery that powers the capsule.
“Our novel capsule is a game-changer in providing affordable and effective monitoring of the effectiveness of radiotherapy treatment. It has the potential to provide quality assurance that the right dose of radiation will reach patients,” added Professor Liu.
