Two-dimensional disease detection

researchers have created the first two-dimensional images of biological samples using a new mass spectrometry technique that furthers the technology's potential applications for the detection of diseases like cancer.

The technology, desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), measures characteristic chemical markers that distinguish diseased from non-diseased regions of tissue samples within a few seconds and has eliminated the need for samples to be treated with chemicals and then be specially contained.

This tool has a wide range of applications and could be used in the future to address many medical issues, said Graham Cooks, Purdue's Henry B. Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry in whose lab DESI was developed.

‘This technology could be used to aid surgeons in precisely and completely removing cancerous tissue,’ he said. ‘With these images, we can see the exact location of tumour masses and can detect cancerous sites that are indistinguishable to the naked eye.’

Current surgical methods rely on the trained eye of a pathologist who views stained tissue slices under a microscope to assess what tissue must be removed.