Atlanta Researchers Develop Nanotechnology Technique to Aid Brain Tumor Patients

March 29th, 2013

Researchers in Atlanta have developed a technique, using nanotechnology, that could improve the chances of survival – and quality of life – for people with brain tumors.

The technique dyes the tumor blue to give surgeons a better chance of removing all of a tumor without taking out healthy parts of the brain. The dye shows the edges of a tumor more clearly.

Researchers at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Georgia Tech developed the technique using what are called nano-carriers. The key to its success is the fact that tumors create new blood vessels as they grow, and those blood vessels leak.

Georgia Tech biomedical engineer Ravi Bellamkonda says dye inserted into the brain diffuses within minutes except the dye in the nano-carrier.An audio version of this story

“Because it’s encapsulated in this nano-carrier, it’s too big to easily move around in the brain,” said Bellamkonda. So once it gets out of the blood vessel, it stays very close to where it got out. And because the blood vessels are leaky only at the edge where the tumors are growing out, that’s how we mark the edge of the tumor.”

The technique has been successful in animal trials. Researchers have published their findings in the journal Drug Delivery and Translational Medicine and are now looking for funding to conduct human trials.