A special tiny particle system has been created to find and kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. Each particle is made of a biodegradable core wrapped in a thin layer of gold, then coated with a natural sugar (hyaluronic acid) that locks onto cancer cells. They also carry tiny glowing carbon dots so doctors can watch them move inside the body. When hit with a harmless infrared light, these particles heat up just enough to destroy tumors.
Figure 1. H-PhotoFluor nanoparticles PLGA cores with gold shells, GQDs, and HA target CD44+ cancer cells for NIR fluorescence imaging and generate heat under NIR light to kill tumors.
Cancer treatment often harms healthy tissues along with cancer cells. Current methods like chemotherapy or radiation are not very specific, and can lead to serious side effects. Also, real-time tracking of where the treatment goes inside the body is not always possible, which reduces safety and effectiveness.
- Homes In on Cancer Cells: Particles are coated with hyaluronic acid, which fits like a key into receptors over-abundant on cancer cells, so drugs go exactly where they’re needed.
- Lights Up for Live Tracking: Tiny graphene quantum dots glow under special cameras, letting doctors see in real time where the particles travel in the body.
- Uses Gentle Heat to Kill Tumors: A low‐power infrared light gently warms the gold shell, cooking only the cancer cells and leaving healthy cells unharmed.
- Wide Range Hormone Detection: This product can measure very low to very high levels of pregnancy hormones (from 10 IU/L to 200,000 IU/L), making it suitable for early and later stages.
- Fully Biodegradable: After doing its job, the core material (PLGA) dissolves naturally in the body, avoiding long-term buildup.
The lab prototype consists of roughly 150 nm spheres made by mixing FDA-approved PLGA polymer, a vitamin-based emulsifier, gold seeds, and carbon dots. These were manufactured via a simple “mix-and-coat” method, then tested under microscopes to confirm size, shape, and glow.
This invention has been successfully tested in laboratory settings using cancer cells. The particles have been proven safe for blood and normal cells, and they effectively kill cancer cells when activated by light.
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By offering a highly targeted, image-guided way to destroy tumors, this technology could reduce treatment side effects, shorten hospital stays, and lower healthcare costs. Patients may avoid the nausea and hair loss of chemotherapy and the damage to healthy organs from radiation. In regions with limited medical resources, a single light-activated injection and portable infrared lamp could make advanced cancer care more accessible.
- Oncology treatments
- Image-guided surgery
- Nanomedicine manufacturing
- Pharmaceutical drug delivery systems
- Biomedical imaging equipment companies
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