Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed an endoscopic device capable of 3D imaging the stiffness of individual biological cells and complex organisms. This breakthrough could revolutionize early cancer detection and treatment.
In the initial stages of cancer, cells exhibit a softer texture compared to normal cells, enabling them to navigate tight spaces and spread rapidly throughout the body, a process known as metastasis. As cells cluster together, they alter their environment to form stiff tumors, shielding themselves from external threats.
Published in Nature Communications Biology, this novel technology employs a hair-thin endoscopic probe to measure the stiffness of individual cells, enabling histological analysis based on abnormal stiffness at the single-cell level within the human body for the first time.
Lead author Dr. Salvatore La Cavera III, a Nottingham Research Fellow in the Optics and Photonics Group, emphasized the aim to develop endoscopic technologies for faster, safer, and clearer diagnostics, replacing invasive biopsies with non-invasive, non-toxic alternatives.
The device offers exceptionally high imaging resolution, detecting stiffness down to billionths of a meter through Brillouin scattering, where a laser beam interacts with the specimen’s natural stiffness. The team demonstrated its capabilities by visualizing the 3D stiffness of Caenorhabditis elegans, a microscopic worm, providing insights into its anatomy previously only possible with electron microscopes on non-living samples.
Co-author Dr. Veeren Chauhan, an Assistant Professor in Whole Organism Analytics, highlighted the significance of this technology in studying nematode biology without sacrificing specimens, potentially leading to a better understanding of human physiology and paving the way for advancements in both research and clinical diagnostics.
