Digital Oncology: Developing wearable nanofibre-based temperature sensors for early diagnosis of cancer

数字肿瘤学：开发基于纳米纤维的可穿戴温度传感器，用于癌症早期诊断

• 批准号: 2601190
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2601190
• 关键词: Digital; Oncology; Developing; wearable; nanofibre

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide [1]. According to WHO,it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world contributing to 12.5% of the total number ofnew cases (2.3 million BC cases) and about 685,000 deaths in 2020 [2]. Early detection of BC is vital toimprove the 5-year survival rate of the patient for up to 98% [3]. The existence of breast tumors canbe detected using a variety of imaging techniques such as mammography, ultrasound, and MRI.However, these methods are impractical to be used as personal monitoring devices due to their highcost and uncomfortable procedures for the patient. Mammography is currently the gold-standardscreening method for BC at its initial stage, however, it has a number of drawbacks [4]:the necessity of compressing the patient's breasts increased cancer risks due to ionizing radiation exposureresults may be less accurate for women with dense breast tissue or breast implants.There is a correlation between breast skin temperature and cancerous breasts, and it is measurable[5]. This has prompted the development of thermography which is now used as an additional modalitywith a high potential for early BC detection. It uses an infrared camera to detect heat patterns andblood flow in body tissues [6].Non-invasive, radiation-free & painless.Detects changes in breasts with dense tissue and implants.A skilled medical professional must perform the screening in a hospital or thermography centre,therefore even though the technology has been proven to be a possible complementary tool, it isimpractical to use as a personal healthcare device (PHD).The goal of this research is to develop a low-cost, real-time, flexible, and breathable wearable patchfor continuous temp monitoring for early BC detection based on the theory and mechanism ofthermography. It will consist of:A nanofiber-based wearable patch containing temp sensors.A Bluetooth interface circuit for the patch to transmit the temp data to a mobile application.A mobile application to display temp data from the wearable patch for an enhanced userexperience.This device will effectively serve as a PHD that monitors breast health to:Improve detection of fast-growing tumors between mammogram intervals and whenmammography is not indicated by screening guidelines for women under 50.Alert the user to changes that may need further investigation.Reduce healthcare cost burden, barriers to health services, and user anxiety.The wearable patch should be able to identify specific features of breast heat patterns over time todetect BC:A. highly asymmetric temperature distributions between the left & right breastsB. localised hot spots indicating anomalies & variations in heat patterns in the areolar andperiareolar regions.2Methodology1st Phase, Fabrication of Wearable Patch:Fabricate the nanomesh base layer using the electrospinning tool.Fabricate the active sensing layer.Comparative analysis: use an existing infrared thermal imaging camera to verify the result obtainedfrom the newly developed patch.2nd Phase, Sensor Interface Circuit: use an off-the-shelf Arduino circuit and equip it with a Bluetoothtransmitter to deliver real-time temp-sensing data to cell phones for remote monitoring.3rd phase, Mobile Application: develop an app that is compatible with both iOS & Android to readtemp data from the patch.Testing the Full System:Testing of the developed patch on dead animal skin to optimize the conformability & adhesionproperties.Design a breast phantom embedded with a heater to mimic a woman's breast & tumorrespectively and use it to test the patch in-vitro.In-vivo test of the full system.

乳腺癌(BC)是全球女性死亡的主要原因之一[1]。据世界卫生组织称，它是世界上最常诊断的癌症，占新发病例总数的 12.5%（230 万 BC 病例），2020 年约有 685,000 人死亡[2]。早期发现 BC 对于将患者的 5 年生存率提高至 98% 至关重要[3]。乳腺肿瘤的存在可以使用多种成像技术来检测，例如乳房X线照相术、超声波和MRI。然而，由于这些方法成本高且操作对患者来说不舒服，所以用作个人监测设备是不切实际的。乳房X光检查是目前乳腺癌初期筛查的金标准，但它有许多缺点[4]：必须压迫患者的乳房，电离辐射暴露会增加患癌症的风险，对于乳腺密度较高的女性来说，结果可能不太准确。乳房组织或乳房植入物。乳房皮肤温度与癌性乳房之间存在相关性，并且是可测量的[5]。这促进了热成像技术的发展，热成像技术现在被用作一种具有早期BC检测潜力的附加模式。它使用红外热像仪来检测身体组织中的热模式和血流[6]。非侵入性、无辐射、无痛。检测具有致密组织和植入物的乳房的变化。必须由熟练的医疗专业人员在医院或医院进行筛查因此，尽管该技术已被证明是一种可能的补充工具，但用作个人医疗保健设备（PHD）是不切实际的。本研究的目标是开发一种低成本、实时、灵活、和透气基于热成像理论和机制的可穿戴贴片，用于连续温度监测，用于早期 BC 检测。它将包括：一个包含温度传感器的基于纳米纤维的可穿戴贴片。一个蓝牙接口电路，用于将贴片传输温度数据到移动应用程序。一个移动应用程序，用于显示来自可穿戴贴片的温度数据，以增强用户体验。该设备将有效地充当监测乳房健康的 PHD，以：在乳房 X 光检查间隔之间以及当 50 岁以下女性筛查指南未指示乳房 X 光检查时，提高对快速生长肿瘤的检测。提醒用户可能需要进一步调查的变化。减少医疗保健成本负担、医疗服务障碍和用户焦虑。可穿戴贴片应该能够识别一段时间内乳房发热模式的特定特征，以检测 BC:A。左右乳房之间的温度分布高度不对称 B.局部热点表明乳晕和乳晕周围区域的热模式异常和变化。2方法第一阶段，可穿戴贴片的制作：使用静电纺丝工具制作纳米网格基层。制作活性传感层。比较分析：使用现有的红外热成像相机验证新开发的补丁获得的结果。第二阶段，传感器接口电路：使用现成的Arduino电路并为其配备蓝牙发射器将实时温度传感数据传输到手机进行远程监控。第三阶段，移动应用程序：开发一个与 iOS 和 Android 兼容的应用程序，以从补丁中读取温度数据。测试整个系统：测试已开发的补丁在死去的动物皮肤上，以优化贴合性和粘附性能。设计一个嵌入加热器的乳房模型，分别模仿女性的乳房和肿瘤，并用它来体外测试贴片。整个系统的体内测试。