Identification, diagnosis, and treatment of neuropathologies, neurotoxicities, tumors, and brain and spinal cord injuries using electrodes with microvoltammetry

Abstract

The present invention relates to devices and methods of use thereof for detection of biomolecules, in vitro, in vivo, or in situ. The invention relates to methods of diagnosing and / or treating a subject as having or being at risk of developing a disease or condition that is associated with abnormal levels of one or more biomolecules including, but not limited to, inter alia, epilepsy, diseases of the basal ganglia, athetoid, dystonic diseases, neoplasms, Parkinson's disease, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and cancer. The invention also provides methods of differentiating white matter from gray matter. In some embodiments, regions of the brain to be resected or targeted for pharmaceutical therapy are identified using sensors. The invention further provides methods of measuring the neurotoxicity of a material by comparing microvoltammograms of a neural tissue in the presence and absence of the material using the inventive sensors.

Description

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 118,571, filed Apr. 8, 2002, now allowed, entitled, “Identification, Diagnosis, And Treatment Of Neuropathologies, Neurotoxicities, Tumors, And Brain And Spinal Cord Injuries Using Microelectrodes With Microvoltammetry,” which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. Nos. 60 / 326,407, filed on Oct. 1, 2001; 60 / 297,276, filed on Jun. 11, 2001; and 60 / 282,004, filed on Apr. 6, 2001, all now expired, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of neuropathologies, neurotoxicities, tumors, and brain and spinal cord injuries using electrodes with microvoltammetry. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The present invention relates to devices and methods of use thereof for determining the presence and concentration of chemicals in a cell, tissue, organ or o...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0023] The present invention relates to devices and methods for microvoltammetric and/or chronoamperometric imaging of temporal changes in neurotransmitter concentrations in living humans and non-human animals comprising contacting cells with a Broderick probe or BRODERICK PROBE® sensor, applying a potential to said Broderick probe, and generating a temporally resolved microvoltammogram. The method may further comprise determining from said microvoltammogram the presence and...

Problems solved by technology

However, Wightman et al. observed that linear diffusion is not enough to describe the action that takes place at spherical microelectrodes (Dayton M A et al., 1980, Anal. Chem. 52:948-950).

Previous in vitro analysis techniques have yielded disappointing results.

However, this technique has been criticized because of the local gliosis caused by the dialysis probes and the perfusion process that can alter the biochemical parameters under study.

Neurotransmitter data from experimental epilepsy models and in vitro analysis of surgically resected specimens from patients with partial epilepsy have thus far yielded conflicting results.

These conflicting results may be due to significant variations between samples as well as choice of controls.

Additionally, highly localized changes in epileptic cortex are not detectable using whole tissue homogenates.

Current techniques are limited, in part, in their relative inability to monitor neural chemistry in real time in a freely behaving animal or human which may limit their diagnostic and / or therapeutic efficacy.

Current imaging technology is limited with respect to tumor visualization in neural tissue.

For example, magnetic resonance imaging MRI is limited in its ability to detect tumor infiltration into white matter.

This may hinder a physician's ability to render a diagnosis and / or prognosis.

It further limits the ability to treat the patient by, for example, hindering a surgeon from defining tumor boundaries to remove the tumor.

Alternatively, an inability to visualize cancerous cells or tissue in white matter may hinder a physicians ability to monitor the efficacy of a chemotherapy regimen.

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