Device harnesses microfluidics to diagnose pancreatic cancer

The prototype can perform the basic steps for processing a biopsy, relying on fluid transport instead of human hands to process the tissue. The team presented its initial results at the SPIE Photonics West conference and has filed a patent for the device.

‘This new process is expected to help the pathologist make a more rapid diagnosis and be able to determine more accurately how invasive the cancer has become, leading to improved prognosis,’ said Eric Seibel, a UW research professor of mechanical engineering and director of the department’s Human Photonics Laboratory.

The new instrumentation would essentially automate and streamline the manual, time-consuming process a pathology lab goes through to diagnose cancer. Currently, a pathologist takes a biopsy tissue sample, then sends it to the lab where it’s cut into thin slices, stained and put on slides, then analysed optically in 2D for abnormalities.

The UW’s technology would process and analyse whole tissue biopsies for 3D imaging, which offers a more complete picture of the cellular makeup of a tumour, said Ronnie Das, a UW postdoctoral researcher in bioengineering who is the lead author on a related paper.