Site card
Optical hyperthermia equipment
Where:
Center for Biomedical Technology
Ubicación:
Laboratorio de Bioinstrumentación y Nanomedicina, Centro de Tecnología Biomédica (CTB)
Typology:
Infraestructura Científica
Manager: José Javier Serrano Olmedo
Email:
Continuous-wave laser (MDL H808, PSU-H-LED power source: Changchun New Industries, Changchun Jilin, China). It has a wavelength of 808 nm, with maximum power emission of 5 W; the height of the beam from the base is 29 mm, the diameter of the beam has an opening of 5-8 mm3 and the laser head is 155 x 77 x 60 mm. The laser is connected to the system by means of multi-mode optical fibre, with a centre diameter of 600 ¿m, a length of 1.5 m and a transmission power of 90-99% (600 ¿m MM fibre; Changchun New Industries). The optical fibre has a collimator at one end (F-C5-S3-780, Newport Corporation, Irvine, CA).
Health, Medicine. Development of anti-cancer technologies, although it could be expanded to other sectors and fields of application of superparamagnetism and nanoparticles.
It generates hyperthermia by means of the laser emitted by the optical fibre, in order to remove tumour tissue, using different types of nanoparticles, mainly gold. The synthesis of those nanoparticles is designed to provide them with certain specific optical and biological properties. Paying particular attention to those optical properties, the functioning of the nanoparticles is mainly due to a phenomenon called surface plasmon resonance, which occurs in the near infrared (NIR) region, at a specific wavelength around 808 nm. That is the specific wavelength of the laser and it is invariable. Therefore, the equipment generates a laser which irradiates nanoparticles of different kinds in specific experimental conditions, which depend on the cell line and the culture material used; the cell density; the shape, size and concentration of the nanoparticles; the irradiation time, and the power of the laser.
It is used for experimental purposes with in vitro cells, changing the laser parameters throughout the research, depending on the cells and nanoparticles used at that time. The variables are very important, as without them the experiments could not be carried out. To standardise them, numerous experimental studies are required, changing both the irradiation time and the power, in order to establish the ideal values for each type of cell and nanoparticle. Once the parameters, the increase in temperature achieved by irradiating the nanoparticles with the laser and their subsequent heating up have been established, cell survival in the tumour lines used is evaluated. It is also used to measure temperature and specific data using a sensor and software for inert experiments.
It is related to magnetic hyperthermia and nanorobotics, the three techniques sharing the fundamental objective of the selective removal of tumour cells, avoiding healthy tissue, by means of temperature (optical or magnetic) or by means of movement (nanorobotics). Optical hyperthermia is the most advanced, although in the medium term the three techniques will be ready for in vitro and in vivo experimentation. It is also related to the photoacoustic imaging (PAI) technique. The two use nanoparticles and, in combination, improve the accumulation of the particles inside the tumour, increasing the preclinical efficacy of both techniques. PAI makes it possible to visualise, in real time, the different anatomical structures in living tissue. It is based on the thermoelastic expansion of the biological molecules, in order to generate acoustic waves that are minimally dispersed, making it possible to detect them, even in deep tissues, and convert them into real-time images.
Optical hyperthermia and PAI are destined to become the next generation in non-invasive therapeutic techniques for fighting cancer. Optical hyperthermia also has a synergistic effect with other conventional techniques for treating cancer, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. There are numerous examples where the nanoparticle used to remove the cancerous cells is biofunctionalised (a molecule is attached to its surface) with drugs used in chemotherapy. The most characteristic example is doxorubicin (DOX). Another characteristic example is the addition of specific antibodies to tumour cells, in which case immunotherapy is used. Whether chemotherapy or immunotherapy is carried out depends on the drug or biological molecule with which the nanoparticles have been biofunctionalised.
