Device Diagnoses Breast Cancer in 60 Minutes

Researchers have created a point-of-care device that can provide diagnostic information on the presence of breast cancer in under an hour. In initial validation studies, the device showed an accuracy of 100 percent when tested among a small cohort of 68 patients. The instrument, named CytoPAN by its inventors, addresses clinical bottlenecks faced by populations in developing countries where access to central diagnostic facilities can be limited.

In the study, published recently in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the authors write, “The system is relatively affordable and requires minimal training, which should decrease the barriers to access in low-resource areas.”

Lead author, Jouha Min from the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, used a technique called image cytometry to create CytoPAN. First, samples are taken from a patient using fine-needle aspiration — a less painful and invasive method as compared to standard biopsies. CytoPAN’s automated system rapidly captures images and analyzes cells one at a time, looking for histological signs of cancer.

Typically, surgical procedures are required for diagnostic biopsies, in which a small sample of tissue is removed from the breast. This is sent to a laboratory where a pathologist uses specialized procedures to analyze the specimen…