UC San Diego student develops ‘microbubbles’ to improve cancer diagnosis techniques

A PhD student in bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is developing a new imaging technique that could improve the way breast cancer is diagnosed. The student, Carolyn Schutt, received the grand prize at the UCSD Jacob School of Engineering Research Expo 2012 for her research, which could lead to highly-sensitive light imaging deeper inside the body. Schutt’s work aims to combine the chemical sensitivity of optical imaging and the tissue-penetrating properties of ultrasound imaging by building a bridge between the two technologies. Her technique uses gas-filled microbubble contrast agents that change their fluorescence intensity only in response to focused ultrasound. A solution of these microbubbles would be injected into the body to circulate through the blood stream. “By being able to extract chemical information we hope to avoid unnecessary biopsies that are done on benign lesions,” Schutt said.