New Graphene Chip Could Revolutionize Brain Cancer
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Researchers have developed a chip that may revolutionize how brain cancer is treated. This revolutionary device is made of graphene, a material made of pure carbon that’s over a hundred times stronger than steel.
Graphene is extracted from graphite and was invented two decades ago by Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim. Novoselov and Geim, both Manchester University researchers, won the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for their work.
The flexible chip is the size of a postage stamp and has been dubbed the brain-computer interface device. It was designed to identify cancer cells based on their electrical emissions, which differ from those of healthy tissue.
A global team of researchers is currently conducting a clinical trial at Salford Royal Hospital evaluating the chip’s effectiveness in monitoring electrical impulses of brain cells using both very low and very high frequencies. Prof. Kostas Kostarelos, one of the team’s leaders, explains that unlike neuronal cells, cancer cells don’t respond to electrical stimulation.
This is extremely important as over 12,000 individuals in the United Kingdom are diagnosed with brain tumors annually. Additionally, over 5,000 deaths occur annually as a result of this cancer.
The researchers also believe that the device will help others conducting research on conditions like epilepsy and stroke by affording them a better understanding of how electrical signals are transmitted by cells affected by chronic illnesses in comparison to healthy cells.
Inbrain Neuroelectronics co-founder Carolina Aguilar explains that this milestone lays the foundation for advancements in neural decoding as well as its application as treatment. Inbrain is committed to inventing breakthrough neuroelectronic therapies to help manage neural disorders by harnessing the potential of graphene.
To use the chip, the patient will have a piece of their skull removed and the thin chip placed atop their brain. The thousands of electrical contacts on the chip pick up responses emitted by brain cells after stimulation by electrical signals from the device’s transmitters.
Kostarelos explains that differentiating healthy cells from cancerous ones will ensure that surgery on tumors is conducted even more accurately and confidently by guiding surgeons using signals and allowing them to pinpoint neurons that are close to tumors. In the event that a tumor is found in brain regions involved in things like speech, a surgical team will be even more careful.
The Manchester professor adds that this technology may also give rise to a new understanding about how brain cells interact in a diseased state and function.
With entities like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) also engaged in developing therapeutics targeting brain cancers, the treatment options available to patients are likely to increase significantly in the coming years.
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