The discovery could improve cancer therapy and drug delivery to treat tumours.
Researchers from King’s College London’s (KCL) School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, in collaboration with the University of Michigan and the National Institutes of Health and Medical Research in Paris, Norway and Germany, are using shear waves to map blood vessel structures in order to improve the treatment of tumors and other medical conditions.
The results of the study Scientific advances It could improve cancer treatment and potentially improve drug delivery, as well as help researchers better understand tumors.
Experts from the University of Michigan and KCL have developed a new theory to study how shear waves travel through tissue using MRI-based elastography images, which, when analysed, allow researchers to measure the structure of blood vessels non-invasively, using readily available clinical imaging equipment.
Shear waves store information about the material they pass through, such as tissue stiffness, making them useful for diagnosing disease.
This method allows researchers to look at tiny blood vessels that are normally too small to detect, and experiments have demonstrated that the blood vessels leave behind distinct waveform signatures that can be detected and analyzed.
Ralph Sinks, professor of biomedical engineering from KCL’s School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, explained the concept of the method: “Imagine trying to kick a football in a forest. If the trees are randomly scattered, the football will bounce around unpredictably. Similarly, waves traveling through tissue are affected by the arrangement of blood vessels.”
The researchers believe their work could have implications for cancer treatment because tumours often produce more unregulated and abnormal blood vessel growth than healthy tissue, and measuring this can provide a better understanding of tumours.
Additionally, the research could help determine whether drugs reach tumor cells or if they are ineffective, potentially leading to improved drug delivery, and provide important insight into which drugs are best suited for different types of tumors, potentially leading to improved treatment outcomes.
