Carnegie Mellon University
August 25, 2014

News Brief: Carnegie Mellon President Subra Suresh and Colleagues Create New Device That Could Help Assess Cancer's Spread

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University President Subra Suresh and researchers from MIT and Pennsylvania State University have devised a new way to separate cells by exposing them to sound waves as they flow through a tiny channel. Their device, about the size of a dime, could be used to detect the extremely rare tumor cells that circulate in cancer patients’ blood, helping doctors predict whether a tumor is going to spread.
 
“The method we describe in this paper is a step forward in the detection and isolation of circulating tumor cells in the body,” Suresh said. “It has the potential to offer a safe and effective new tool for cancer researchers, clinicians and patients.”

The research is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

For more information, visit http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/ps-tat082514.php or http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/sorting-cancer-cells-with-sound-0825.

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