Biofilms to help diagnose and treat cancer

Researchers at the University of California Irvine in the United States have created a new bioelectronic chip to study the problem of heterogeneity of cancer cells, with the aim of reducing their ability to resist various therapeutic methods.
The team of researchers in the fields of electrical engineering, computer science and biomedicine developed the new chip through artificial intelligence sciences, fluid and nanoparticle research, and manufactured it using stereolithography techniques, so that it could be used in examining various cancerous tumors and distinguishing between them and healthy tissues at the cellular level inside the body.
“The heterogeneity at the level of cells within tumors can lead to resistance to treatment methods, to varying degrees according to each patient,” said researcher Kushal Joshi, who specializes in the field of biomedical engineering, adding that the new technology provides the possibility of treating this problem through accurate classification of cells. Cancer within a single sample, “according to the technology website,” Science Daily “.
The study team affirms that “the analysis of cancer cells is of great importance for identifying the types of cancer for each patient, as well as studying cellular heterogeneity, as it allows the possibility of knowing the development of cancer and providing more efficient treatment methods.”
The research team created a device to test the prototype of the new chip, in which the samples of cells to be studied are placed inside channels that contain certain liquids, with electrodes installed to monitor the electrical properties of diseased cells compared to the healthy cells of the patient and then analyze them by means of an electronic chip.