A team of researchers reported today that they have used tiny carbon capsules with iron, visible on the screen of a scanner to locate them precisely within the body and laser heated when they reach a tumor.
These carbon nanotubes with multiple layers that contain iron and are 10,000 times thinner than a human hair, described as a presentation today at the 52nd annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, in Philadelphia.
In the laboratory scientists Baptist Medical Center Wake Forest University (North Carolina) used a scanner for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to follow the trajectory of the particles inside the living tissue.
When they saw that the particles were close to a tumor they fired a laser beam and the rapid warming on that scale so small destroyed the tumor.
The method is the development of experimental technique for cancer treatment known as laser induced thermal therapy (TTIL) which uses laser energy to heat and destroy tumors.
The TTIL works because certain nanoparticles can absorb the energy of a laser and convert it into heat. If the nanoparticles are struck by lightning while inside the tumor free energy of high temperature and kill cancer cells.
But there is a problem with the TTIL: the scanner that doctors use the tumor can be clearly seen, but the particles are not seen.
Once injected into the patient they can not be traced and can be dangerous for him: if the laser reaches the particles away from the tumor when heat can destroy healthy tissue. (more…)