![]() ![]() “We hope that, by simply looking at where the cells are, doctors can directly tell if a tumor is very solid, meaning it can’t metastasize yet, or if it’s more fluid-like, and a patient is in danger.” “Our method would allow a very easy diagnosis of the states of cancer, simply by examining the positions of cells in a biopsy,” says Ming Guo, associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. They envision that doctors can one day match an image of a tumor’s cells with a cellular fingerprint to quickly determine a tumor’s phase, and ultimately a cancer’s progression. The MIT researchers are analyzing images of tumors, both grown in the lab and biopsied from patients, to identify cellular fingerprints that indicate whether a tumor is more like a solid, liquid, or gas. Tumors that are more solid may be relatively stable, whereas more fluid-like growths could be more prone to mutate and metastasize. In cancer, there has been evidence to suggest that, like an embryo, a tumor’s physical state may indicate its stage of growth. More immediately, they are applying their method to study and eventually diagnose a specific type of tissue: tumors. The team hopes that their method, which they’ve dubbed “configurational fingerprinting,” can help scientists track physical changes in an embryo as it develops. ![]() ![]() Their findings are reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Now, researchers at MIT have found that the way in which a tissue’s cells are arranged can serve as a fingerprint for the tissue’s “phase.” They have developed a method to decode images of cells in a tissue to quickly determine whether that tissue is more like a solid, liquid, or even a gas. In certain species, this physical state of an organism can be an indicator of its developmental stage, and even the general state of its health. As it matures, its tissues and organs firm up into their final form. In the initial stages, an embryo takes on an almost fluid-like state that allows its cells to divide and expand. As an organism grows, the feel of it changes too. ![]()
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