Researchers develop a new "nanojuice" to help doctors better identify human gut -
Located deep in the human intestine, small intestine is not easy examine. X-rays, MRI and ultrasound images provide instant but each suffers from limitations. Help is on the way.
University at Buffalo researchers are developing a new imaging technique involving nanoparticles suspended in a liquid to form "nanojuice" that patients drank. After reaching the small intestine, doctors would hit the nanoparticles with a harmless laser light, providing an unprecedented view real-time, non-invasive to the body.
Described July 6 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, advancement could help doctors better identify, understand and treat gastrointestinal disorders.
"Conventional imaging methods show the body and blocks, but this method allows you to see how the small intestine works in real time," said corresponding author Jonathan Lovell, Ph.D. , UB assistant professor of biomedical engineering. "Improved imaging will improve our understanding of these diseases and enable more efficient care doctors for people suffering from them."
The average of the human small intestine is about 23 feet long and 1 inch thick. Sandwiched between the stomach and the large intestine, where it is a large part of the digestion and absorption of food takes place. It is also where the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, Crohn's disease and other gastrointestinal diseases occur.
To evaluate the body, doctors usually require patients to drink a thick, chalky liquid called barium. Doctors then use X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound to assess the organ, but these techniques are limited regarding the safety, accessibility and lack of adequate contrast, respectively.
Furthermore, none are very effective in providing real-time imaging of the movement such as peristalsis, which is the muscle contraction that propels food through the small intestine. Dysfunction of these movements may be related to the previously mentioned diseases, as well as the side effects of thyroid disorders, diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
Lovell and a team of researchers worked with a family of dyes called naphthalcyanines. These small molecules absorb much of the light in the near infrared spectrum, which is the ideal range for biological contrast agents.
They are not suitable for the human body, however, because they do not disperse in the liquid, and they can be absorbed through the intestine into the blood stream.
to solve these problems, researchers have formed nanoparticles called "nanonaps" that contain the colored dye molecules and added the ability to disperse in the liquid and move safely through the intestine.
In laboratory experiments with mice, the researchers administered the nanojuice orally. They then used photoacoustic tomography (PAT), which is the pulse laser lights which generate pressure waves that, when measured, providing real-time and a more nuanced view of the small intestine.
The researchers plan to continue refining the technical trials in humans, and move into other areas of the gastrointestinal tract.
Other authors of the study from the Department of UB Chemical and Biological Engineering, POSTECH Korea, Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and McMaster University in Canada. The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Ministry of Defense and the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.
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