Production of nanobiosensor to distinguish aggressive cancer cells from benign cells

Iranian researchers from the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Tehran University in association with researchers from Medical Nanotechnology Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences produced a new type of electrical nanosensor to detect a limited number of aggressive cancer cells among benign cells of intestine.
The nanosensor has very high accuracy and doesn't need the use of chemical markers.
The nanosensor has been produced based on silicon nanograss. The sensor is able to detect highly accurately the presence of even five percent aggressive cancer cells among the whole sample being tested. Taking into account the complicated and difficult stages of sample preparation, the use of this nanosensor increases the rate of the experiment significantly. Among other advantages of the sensor, mention can be made of the lack of the use of chemical markers and cell painting, and low cost of the required devices.
The research was carried out with the cooperation of Medical Nanotechnology Research Center of Taleqani Hospital. In this research, a new pattern was obtained for the detection and classification of cancer in the sample by using different electrical signals created by the sensor. The method is a good help for complementary diagnosis, specially when it is not possible to detect the number of aggressive cancer cells in Pap Smear sample. The method can also be used for studying the effect of drugs on cancer cells based on electrical pattern.
Results of the research have been published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, vol. 59, issue 1, March 2014, pp. 152-159.