1794 results about "Normal tissue" patented technology

Apparatus for detecting vulnerable plaques embedded in the wall of a patient's blood vessel includes an intravascular catheter containing a microwave antenna, an extra-corporeal radiometer having a signal input, a reference input and an output, a cable for electrically connecting the antenna to the signal input, and a device for applying an indication of the patient's normal tissue temperature to the reference input so that when the catheter is moved along the vessel, the locations of the vulnerable plaques are reflected in a signal from the output as thermal anomalies due to the higher emissivity of the vulnerable plaques as compared to the normal tissue. A second embodiment of the apparatus has two coaxial antennas in the catheter serving two radiometers. One measures the temperature at locations in the vessel wall, the other measures the temperature at the surface. By subtracting the two signals, the locations of vulnerable plaque may be visualized. The apparatus employs a special diplexer for separating the signals from the two antennas and a method of detecting and possibly destroying the plaques is also disclosed.

Mesothelin is a differentiation antigen present on the surface of ovarian cancers, mesotheliomas and several other types of human cancers. Because among normal tissues, mesothelin is only present on mesothelial cells, it represents a good target for antibody mediated delivery of cytotoxic agents. The present invention is directed to anti-mesothelin antibodies, including Fv molecules with particularly high affinity for mesothelin, and immunoconjugates employing them. Also described are diagnostic and therapeutic methods using the antibodies. The anti-mesothelin antibodies are well-suited for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers of the ovary, stomach, squamous cells, mesotheliomas and other malignant cells expressing mesothelin.

Methods of identifying changes in genomic DNA copy number are disclosed. Methods for identifying homozygous deletions and genetic amplifications are disclosed. An array of probes designed to detect presence or absence of a plurality of different sequences is also disclosed. The probes are designed to hybridize to sequences that are predicted to be present in a reduced complexity sample. The methods may be used to detect copy number changes in cancerous tissue compared to normal tissue. The methods may be used to diagnose cancer and other diseases associated with chromosomal anomalies.

A method of performing radiation therapy includes delivering a therapeutic dose such as X-ray only to a target (e.g., tumor) with continuous broad beam (or in-effect continuous) using arrays of parallel planes of radiation (microbeams / microplanar beams). Microbeams spare normal tissues, and when interlaced at a tumor, form a broad-beam for tumor ablation. Bidirectional interlaced microbeam radiation therapy (BIMRT) uses two orthogonal arrays with inter-beam spacing equal to beam thickness. Multidirectional interlaced MRT (MIMRT) includes irradiations of arrays from several angles, which interleave at the target. Contrast agents, such as tungsten and gold, are administered to preferentially increase the target dose relative to the dose in normal tissue. Lighter elements, such as iodine and gadolinium, are used as scattering agents in conjunction with non-interleaving geometries of array(s) (e.g., unidirectional or cross-fired (intersecting) to generate a broad beam effect only within the target by preferentially increasing the valley dose within the tumor.

Methods to formulate treatments for individual cancer patients by assessing genomic and / or phenotypic differences between cancer and normal tissues and integrating the results to identify dysfunctional pathways are described.

An ultrasound system used for both imaging and delivery high intensity ultrasound energy therapy to treatment sites and a method for treating tumors and other undesired tissue within a patient's body with an ultrasound device. The ultrasound device has an ultrasound transducer array disposed on a distal end of an elongate, relatively thin shaft. In one form of the invention, the transducer array is disposed within a liquid-filled elastomeric material that more effectively couples ultrasound energy into the tumor, that is directly contacted with the device. Using the device in a continuous wave mode, a necrotic zone of tissue having a desired size and shape (e.g., a necrotic volume selected to interrupt a blood supply to a tumor) can be created by controlling at least one of the f-number, duration, intensity, and direction of the ultrasound energy administered. This method speeds the therapy and avoids continuously pausing to enable intervening normal tissue to cool.

A microwave applicator for applying microwave radiation to body tissue includes a temperature sensor positioned along the applicator to measure the temperature of body tissue at a margin of the tissue to be treated. By monitoring the temperature of the tissue at the margin of the tissue to be treated, the heating of the tissue can be better controlled to ensure that the tissue to be treated is heated to the required temperature while damage to surrounding normal tissue is minimized. Treatment can include positioning one or more applicators into body tissue and applying microwave radiation to the applicators. Phase and amplitude control of the microwave radiation can be used to produce a desired heating pattern. Optimization of the number and location of microwave applicators and the phase and amplitude of microwave energy applied thereto can be determined through pretreatment simulation.

Methods and related systems are described for detection of breast cancer in 3D ultrasound imaging data. Volumetric ultrasound images are obtained by an automated breast ultrasound scanning (ABUS) device. In ABUS images breast cancers appear as dark lesions. When viewed in transversal and sagittal planes, lesions and normal tissue appear similar as in traditional 2D ultrasound. However, architectural distortion and spiculation are frequently seen in the coronal views, and these are strong indicators of the presence of cancer. The described computerized detection (CAD) system combines a dark lesion detector operating in 3D with a detector for spiculation and architectural distortion operating on 2D coronal slices. In this way a sensitive detection method is obtained. Techniques are also described for correlating regions of interest in ultrasound images from different scans such in different scans of the same breast, scans of a patient's right versus left breast, and scans taken at different times. Techniques are also described for correlating regions of interest in ultrasound images and mammography images. Interactive user interfaces are also described for displaying CAD results and for displaying corresponding locations on different images.

An impedance spectroscopy system for monitoring ischemic mucosal damage in hollow viscous organs comprises a sensor catheter and an impedance spectrometer for electrically driving the catheter to obtain a complex tissue impedance spectrum. Once the catheter is in place in one of a patient's hollow viscous organs, the impedance spectrometer obtains the complex impedance spectrum by causing two electrodes in the tip of the catheter to inject a current into the mucosal tissue at different frequencies, while two other electrodes measure the resulting voltages. A pattern recognition system is then used to analyze the complex impedance spectrum and to quantify the severity of the mucosal injury. Alternatively, the complex impedance spectrum can be appropriately plotted against the spectrum of normal tissue, allowing for a visual comparison by trained personnel.

Methods of identifying changes in genomic DNA copy number are disclosed. Methods for identifying homozygous deletions and genetic amplifications are disclosed. An array of probes designed to detect presence or absence of a plurality of different sequences is also disclosed. The probes are designed to hybridize to sequences that are predicted to be present in a reduced complexity sample. The methods may be used to detect copy number changes in cancerous tissue compared to normal tissue. The methods may be used to diagnose cancer and other diseases associated with chromosomal anomalies.

This invention provides methods for amplifying, detecting, measuring, and identifying miRNAs from biological samples, particularly limited amounts of a biological sample. miRNAs that are differentially expressed in tumor samples and normal tissues are useful as cancer biomarkers for cancer diagnostics.

The invention provides a beam shaper for neutron-capture therapy in order to improve flux and quality of a neutron source. The beam shaper comprises a target, a slowing body adjacent to the target, a reflector wrapping the slowing body, a thermal neutron absorber adjacent to the slow body, a radiation shield arranged in the beam shaper and a beam outlet. The target generates nuclear reaction with a proton beam incident from a beam inlet so as to generate neutrons, the neutrons form a neutron beam which defines a main axis, the slowing body slows down the neutrons generated from the target to an epithermal neutron energy region, the reflector guides the neutrons deviating from the main axis to the main axis so as to improve intensity of the epithermal neutron beam, a gap passage is arranged between the slowing body and the reflector so as to improve epithermal neutron flux, the thermal neutron absorber is used for absorbing the thermal neutron so as to avoid causing overmuch dosed with shallow normal tissue during therapy, and the radiation shield is used for shielding leaked neutrons and photon so as to reduce normal tissue dose in a non-radiation region.

A method and apparatus for enhancing the optical detection of target portions of an object particularly useful in the optical examination of biological tissue to distinguish cancerous tissue from non-cancerous tissue. This is accomplished by exposing the object, e.g., biological tissue, to first and second light sources of different spectral contents for short, alternating, first and second time periods; detecting the light received from the object during each of the first and second time periods; and utilizing the light detected in the first and second time periods for producing and displaying a composite image including the image of the object and an enhanced image of the target portions, e.g., the cancerous tissue, overlayed on the image of the object.

A medical accelerator system is provided for simultaneous radiation therapy to all treatment fields. It provides the single dose effect of radiation on cell survival. It eliminates the inter-field interrupted, subfractionated fractionated radiation therapy. Single or four beams S-band, C-band or X-band accelerators are connected to treatment heads through connecting beam lines. It is placed in a radiation shielding vault which minimizes the leakage and scattered radiation and the size and weight of the treatment head. In one version, treatment heads are arranged circularly and connected with the beam line. In another version, a pair of treatment heads is mounted to each ends of narrow gantries and multiple such treatment heads mounted gantries are assembled together. Electron beam is steered to all the treatment heads simultaneously to treat all the fields simultaneously. Radiating beam's intensity in a treatment field is modulated with combined divergent and pencil beam, selective beam's energy, dose rate and weight and not with MLC and similar devices. Since all the treatment fields are treated simultaneously the dose rate at the tumor site is the sum of each of the converging beam's dose rate at depth. It represents the biological dose rate. The dose rate at d-max for a given field is the individual machine dose rate. Its treatment options includes divergent or pencil beam modes. It enables to treat a tumor with lesser radiation toxicities to normal tissue and higher tumor cure and control.

Methods of identifying allele-specific changes in genomic DNA copy number are disclosed. Methods for identifying homozygous deletions and genetic amplifications are disclosed. An array of probes designed to detect presence or absence of a plurality of different sequences is also disclosed. The probes are designed to hybridize to sequences that are predicted to be present in a reduced complexity sample. The methods may be used to detect copy number changes in cancerous tissue compared to normal tissue. The methods may be used to diagnose cancer and other diseases associated with chromosomal anomalies.

Treatment of warm-blooded animals having a tumor or non-malignant hypervascularation, by administering a sufficient amount of a cytotoxic agent formulated into a phosphate prodrug form having substrate specificity for microvessel phosphatases, so that microvessels are destroyed preferentially over other normal tissues, because the less cytotoxic prodrug form is converted to the highly cytotoxic dephosphorylated form.

Alternatively spliced RNA, along with their normally-spliced counterparts, can be rapidly identified by hybridizing cDNA from normal tissue to cDNA from an abnormal or test tissue. The two cDNA populations are separately tagged prior to hybridization, which allows isolation of double-stranded cDNA containing both normal and alternatively spliced molecules. Within this population, pairing of cDNA molecules representing an alternatively spliced mRNA with cDNA molecules representing the counterpart normally spliced mRNA will form double-stranded cDNA with single-stranded mismatched regions. The mismatched double-stranded cDNA are isolated with reagents that bind single-stranded nucleic acids. The strands of each mismatched double-stranded cDNA are then coupled and analyzed, simultaneously identifying both normal and alternatively spliced molecules.

An efficient method and system of contouring target volumes and normal tissues at risk using an expert case as interactive tutorial reference for radiation therapy treatment plan is disclosed. Target volume contours based on guidance from a disease-matched expert case is selected by the user. The second imaging data set of a new patient is then displayed and linked with expert's case in a the slice-by-slice and side-by-side fashion and at comparable field-of-view angles. Users can generate the target volume contours on the new patient using expert case as tutorial guidance or overlaying the expert contours onto the new patient's imaging data set followed by reforming the target volume contours to fit the anatomical terrain of the patient. Users can then modify the target volume contours of their patient using expert case as tutorial guidance linked in a the slice-by-slice and side-by-side fashion and at comparable field-of-view angles.

This invention describes a system for generating multiple simultaneous tunable electron and photon beams and monochromatic x-rays for all field simultaneous radiation therapy (AFSRT), tumor specific AFSRT and screening for concealed elements worn on to the body or contained in a container. Inverse Compton scattering renders variable energy spent electron and tunable monochromatic x-rays. It's spent electron beam is reused for radiation with electron beam or to generate photon beam. Tumor specific radiation with Auger transformation radiation is facilitated by exposing high affinity tumor bound heavy elements with external monochromatic x-rays. Heavy elements like directly iodinated steroid molecule that has high affinity binding to estrogen receptor in breast cancer and to iodinated testosterone in prostate cancer or with directly implanted nanoparticles into the tumor are exposed with tuned external monochromatic x-rays for tumor specific radiation therapy. Likewise, screening element's atom's k, l, m, n shell specific Auger transformation radiation generated by its exposure to external monochromatic x-rays is used to screen for concealed objects. Multiple beam segments from a beam storage ring or from octagonal beam lines are simultaneously switched on for simultaneous radiation with multiple beams. The beam on time to expose a tumor or an object is only a few seconds. It also facilitates breathing synchronized radiation therapy. The intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and intensity modulated screening for concealed objects (IMSFCO) is rendered by varying beam intensities of multiple simultaneous beams. The isocentric additive high dose rate from simultaneously converging multiple beams, the concomitant hyperthermia and chemotherapy and tumor specific radiation therapy and the AFSRT's very low radiation to the normal tissue all are used to treat a tumor with lower radiation dose and to treat a radioresistant and multiple times recurrent tumors that heave no other alternative treatments.

A medical accelerator system consisting of coplanar and non-coplanar beams, on line magnetic resonance anatomic and functional imaging and cone beam computed tomographic imaging for single session image guided all field simultaneous radiation therapy and radiosurgery is provided. This system enables single session simulation, field-shaping block making, treatment planning, dose calculations and treatment of tumors. The radiation exposure time to the tumor and the normal tissue is reduced to a few seconds to less than a minute. In filed intensity modulated radiation is rendered by combined divergent and pencil beam, multiple smaller fields within a larger field, selectively varying beam's energy, dose rate and beam weight. Since all the treatment fields are treated simultaneously the dose rate at the tumor site is the sum of each of the converging beam's dose rate at depth. This super-high biological dose rate impairs the lethal and sublethal damage repair.

Apparatus and methods for spatially resolved Raman detection of molecules indicative of the borders of lesions with normal tissue are disclosed. A region of biological tissue was illuminated with monochromatic light. A Raman shifted light signal is detected from endogenous molecules in the region, the molecules being spatially organized in a localized first area of the region. These molecules are indicative of a border between normal tissue and a lesion. The Raman shifted light signal is then spatially resolved in at least one direction.

Spectral optical imaging at one or more key water absorption fingerprint wavelengths measures the difference in water content between a region of cancerous or precancerous tissue and a region of normal tissue. Water content is an important diagnostic parameter because cancerous and precanerous tissues have different water content than normal tissues. Key water absorption wavelengths include at least one of 980 nanometers (nm), 1195 nm, 1456 nm, 1944 nm, 2880 nm to 3360 nm, and 4720 nm. In the range of 400 nm to 6000 nm, one or more points of negligible water absorption are used as reference points for a comparison with one or more key neighboring water absorption wavelengths. Different images are generated using at least two wavelengths, including a water absorption wavelength and a negligible water absorption wavelength, to yield diagnostic information relevant for classifying a tissue region as cancerous, precancerous, or normal. The results of this comparison can be used to identify regions of cancerous tissue in organs such as the breast, cervix and prostate.

The invention relates to methods and compositions for identifying subjects having, or predisposed to having, a neoplastic or cell proliferation or neoplastic disorder. The methods are applicable to any type of tissue sample and can be conducted on otherwise normal tissue.

In order to improve the flux and the quality of a neutron source, the invention provides a beam shaping body for neutron capture therapy. The beam shaping body comprises a beam inlet, a target, a retarding body adjacent to the target, a reflecting body surrounding the external of the retarding body, a thermal neutron absorber adjacent to the retarding body, and a radiation shield and a beam outlet formed in the beam shaping body, wherein the target has nuclear reaction with proton beam entering from the beam inlet, so as to produce a neutron; the neutron forms a neutron beam; the neutron beam defines a main axis; the retarding body slows down the neutron produced by the target to an epithermal neutron energy region; the retarding body is designed to a shape containing at least one cone; the reflecting body guides the neutron deviated from the main axis back to the main axis, so as to improve the strength of an epithermal neutron beam; the thermal neutron absorber is used for absorbing a thermal neutron, so as to prevent the thermal neutron from causing excessive dosage with a superficial normal tissue during therapy; the radiation shield is used for shielding leaked neutron and photon, so as to reduce the normal tissue dosage of a non-irradiated region.

The invention provides a method for preparing radioactive nuclide magnetic microsphere used in vivo for the treatment of vessel embolism and tumor, wherein the process by the invention comprises the steps of, preparing magnetic ferrosic oxide particles, preparing magnetic microballoons, marking protein #+[131] and preparing radioactive nuclide. The invention solves the problems of rejection reaction of heterology antibody and damage of normal tissues.

Mesothelin ins a differentiation antigen present on the surface of ovarian cancers, mesotheliomas and several other types of human cancers. Because among normal tissues, mesothelin is only present on mesothelial cells, it represents a good target for antibody mediated delivery of cytotoxic agents. The present invention is directed to anti-mesothelin antibodies, including Fv molecules with particularly high affinity for mesothelin, and immunoconjugates employing them. Also described are diagnostic and therapeutic methods using the antibodies. The anti-mesothelin antibodies are well-suited for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers of the ovary, stomach, squamous cells, mesotheliomas and other malignant cells expressing mesothelin.

Mesothelin ins a differentiation antigen present on the surface of ovarian cancers, mesotheliomas and several other types of human cancers. Because among normal tissues, mesothelin is only present on mesothelial cells, it represents a good target for antibody mediated delivery of cytotoxic agents. The present invention is directed to anti-mesothelin antibodies, including Fv molecules with particularly high affinity for mesothelin, and immunoconjugates employing them. Also described are diagnostic and therapeutic methods using the antibodies. The anti-mesothelin antibodies are well-suited for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers of the ovary, stomach, squamous cells, mesotheliomas and other malignant cells expressing mesothelin.