Optical Screening of Circulating Tumor Cells for Prostate Cancer
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for screening prostate cancer patients, such as serum prostate-specific antigen testing, face challenges due to lack of specificity and the risk of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, necessitating a more effective and less invasive approach for detecting prostate-specific membrane antigen.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the isolation of circulating tumor cells from blood using a high-density microporous biochip, followed by optical image analysis with fluorescent markers specific to prostate-specific membrane antigen, allowing for the measurement of fluorescence intensities and morphology across multiple wavelength ranges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If serum prostate-specific antigen testing is used for screening, then sensitivity for detecting prostate cancer is improved, but specificity deteriorates leading to overdiagnosis and overtreatment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the detection process into multiple independent steps: first isolating circulating tumor cells from blood using a biochip, then detecting PSMA expression on these cells. This segmentation allows the method to achieve both high sensitivity (by capturing all prostate cancer cells in circulation) and high specificity (by detecting PSMA only on isolated CTCs, not on normal cells)
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces circulating tumor cells as an intermediary between blood and tissue biopsy. Instead of directly testing serum PSA or performing invasive tissue biopsy, the method isolates CTCs from blood as an intermediate step, enabling non-invasive detection with high specificity for prostate cancer cells expressing PSMA
2Measurement precision
If tissue biopsy is performed to detect prostate-specific membrane antigen, then diagnostic accuracy is improved, but patient burden and invasiveness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses circulating tumor cells in blood as an intermediary substitute for tissue biopsy. By detecting PSMA on CTCs from a simple blood draw, the method achieves the same diagnostic accuracy as tissue biopsy without the physical burden and invasiveness of repeated sampling
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical invasive procedure of tissue biopsy with a non-invasive blood-based optical detection system. The biochip and optical image analysis system substitute for the mechanical biopsy process, maintaining diagnostic accuracy while eliminating patient burden
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables accurate screening of prostate cancer patients by identifying prostate-specific membrane antigen in circulating tumor cells, reducing patient burden and improving diagnostic specificity.
Implementation Method 1
reacting the isolated circulating tumor cells with a fluorescent marker binding specifically to the circulating tumor cells and a fluorescent marker binding specifically to prostate-specific membrane antigen; receiving optical images of the circulating tumor cells reacted with the fluorescent marker specific to the circulating tumor cells and the prostate-specific membrane antigen reacted with the fluorescent marker specific to the prostate-specific membrane antigen under a plurality of wavelength ranges
Data Source
AI summary
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of screening a prostate cancer patient by optical image analysis of a circulating tumor cell marker and a prostate-specific membrane antigen.