According to the American Cancer Society, 50 percent of women who get annual breast exams over a ten-year-period will experience at least one false positive. All women who receive a false positive suffer the anxiety and anguish of a cancer scare, but for some, the consequences are even direr. To mitigate these consequences, researchers at Michigan Tech are working hard to develop ICanID, a device that can accurately and efficiently identify cancer cells in cases of diagnostic uncertainty.
The development of ICanID required the dedication and expertise of technical heads Dr. Marina Tanasova, Dr. Smitha Rao and Dr. Lucasz Weselinski, and testing and data analysts Srinivas Kannan and Vaho Begoyan. Dr. Tanasova and Dr. Weselinski are chemists, while Dr. Rao is a biomedical engineer.
Suhel Shaikh, a biomedical engineering graduate student who serves as both design-head and marketing-head for ICanID, became involved in the project after being invited by Dr. Rao, who is his academic advisor. Those who attended the Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition may remember Shaikh’s remarkable presentation, which won prizes for Most Actionable Business and Most Innovative Technology. A portion of that presentation can be viewed at https://goo.gl/ofQbvj. An animated short on ICanID is available at https://goo.gl/pLjtRk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coAw5HufcoM
“Mammograms can detect breast cancer, but the problem is that there are many cases in which there are false positives. Lots of women have gone through surgery to treat breast cancer when it isn’t necessary,” said Shaikh.
In contrast to mammograms, which generate images for diagnostic interpretation, ICanID relies on chemistry. Shaikh explained, “Our device uses the sugar-cravings of cancer cells to determine if cells are noncancerous, precancerous, or cancerous. It serves as a supplement to current testing technologies.”
Unlike most common cancer detection methods, ICanID requires neither an invasive biopsy nor a significant amount of time. It needs only a blood sample and 20 minutes to deliver results. The handheld device can be operated easily without any laborious training. These factors culminate to make it an invaluable diagnostic tool.
Although the team has preliminary data using conventional imaging tools, for further development the team will be seeking funding. Shaikh believes that this may be accomplished in the next 18 – 24 months. This in itself will be a major milestone. However, in order to make the device commercially available, FDA approval, which can take over ten years, will be required. Shaikh estimates the device will likely sell for about $50,000, while single-use testing trays will be priced at about $70 each.
In the United States, 1 in 8 women and 1 in 1000 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetimes. With ICanID, their treatment can begin earlier, which drastically increases their of survival. This device is not just a victory for Michigan Tech-it is a victory for all of humanity.
