BME.04 – Prostate Cancer Localization Tool
Team Members Heading link
- Alejandro Dorval
- Giselle Martinez
- Maahi Shah
- Wiktoria Trefon
- Alex Zea
Project Description Heading link
Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer related deaths in men in the United States. The process for detection and diagnosis includes a prostate-specific antigen test or Digital Rectal Exam. Biopsies are also used to further assess the presence of prostate cancer and require substantial histopathological processing. However, histopathology causes physical and chemical changes to the prostate samples which limits the use of these for further assays. The current methods to detect these growths without histopathology are done manually and visually but they are not accurate due to the heterogeneous nature of the prostate. Another method is the VELscope, an oral screening device, but it is costly, and it is not designed for prostates. Therefore, pathologists require a device for the detection of cancerous lesions in prostate biopsy samples. that is cost-efficient, movable around the lab, produces rapid results, is sensible and specific enough to detect cancerous lesions, and has good resolution. Our device quantitatively measures the conductivity of the prostate samples since cancerous cells have a higher conductivity than non-cancerous cells by 17%. The design consists of a four-probe system powered by an Arduino. It is made up of a voltmeter and an ammeter to measure the voltage drop and current across the sample, these are then used to calculate conductivity where the reading will be displayed on a Liquid Crystal Display. The verification process will include resolution and specificity testing to ensure that the system can detect cancerous growths in a blinded test. Chicken breasts will be used for the testing and trephine burr holes of various sizes will be made to insert pectin in them to simulate the conductivity increase of a tumor. Our prostate cancer localization tool will enable pathologists to further conduct research on prostate samples and improve individualized cancer therapy.