DENVER — Dali Sun, an associate professor of engineering and computer science at the University of Denver, has an ambitious career goal.
"I want to conquer cancer using engineering methods," he said.
Sun used his engineering background to envision a machine that would expedite cancer cell detection.
He's spent the past few years developing a new, miniature elliptical dichroism spectrometer. This device uses light to measure molecule structure and the number of molecules in cell samples. It can then use that information to detect cancer in patients.
"In our lab, we found that a tumor cancer cell has more beta sheet, which is a folding structure of the proteins. So if the sample shows more folding structure in the spectrometer, that means this patient may have cancer," said Sun.
Sun identified significant limitations with traditional spectrometers, primarily their size, cost, and complexity.
"Those machines are really complex and high cost, the complexity becomes a hurdle to the usage in a clinical setting," he said.
Sun's first-of-its-kind device is approximately the size of a tissue box and costs around $1,000. This new invention makes molecular analysis more accessible by being portable and easy to use, thereby broadening its application in clinical, research, and educational settings.
"If this just costs less than $2,000, I would think that most of the clinical settings will have the budget to purchase that," he said. "The final goal is every lab, every biological lab, every chemistry lab, even high school labs in rural areas can have this in their practice."
The implications of this device extend beyond just cancer detection. Sun’s research has shown that the spectrometer can identify changes in DNA structures associated with heart disease and Down syndrome. The potential for such diagnostic capabilities adds a layer of importance to his work.
Sun emphasized the importance of simplicity in design, arguing that overly complex machinery can introduce biases in operations, ultimately hindering effective cancer diagnosis.
"If the device itself is too complex to operate, each operator will have this operator bias. The method basically cannot be used for detecting cancer because bias is too huge," said Sun.
As researchers worldwide confront the escalating challenges of cancer treatment and detection, innovations like Sun’s spectrometer present a hopeful avenue for the future of medical diagnostics. With this revolutionary tool, Sun envisions a healthcare landscape where cost-effective and efficient cancer detection becomes a standard practice, not just a privilege for a select few.
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