Rat-diagnostician
Russian scientists have created a device for early diagnosis of cancer and tuberculosis
Russian scientists were the first in the world to create a device with a rat inside, with the help of which they were able to detect lung cancer and tuberculosis at an early stage, Alexander Panfilov, Deputy Director General – head of the chemical, biological and medical research department of the Advanced Research Foundation (FPI), told RIA Novosti.
"Our diagnostic system makes it possible to detect lung cancer in the first or second stages by exhaled air, spending a very short time on it. A person is breathing, and the system determines whether there is a suspicion of cancer or not. The probability of detecting lung cancer of the second and third degree is quite high – more than 90%," Panfilov said.
In addition, the system can work effectively enough to determine tuberculosis – the relevant experiments were conducted jointly with the Rostov Cancer Center. There is also an agreement with the Novgorod region to test the technology in the region. However, a complex certification of medical equipment has yet to be carried out.
"We have a biohybrid system, we use a rat as a detector. Electrodes are implanted into it in a special way, a mathematical apparatus is created that allows deciphering biorhythms that are formed as a result of exposure to rat receptors of cancer markers in human exhaled air," the agency interlocutor explained.
According to him, after decoding the biorhythms of the rat's brain, the system gives a signal about the high probability of cancer. At the same time, today it takes less than five minutes to determine the disease of one person. However, scientists have set a goal to reduce the diagnostic time to one minute, which is also not the limit.
"Such systems are being created in the world, but we probably created the first system that works. Before that, specially trained dogs were used, which sniffed the patient and showed that there was a chance of detecting cancer. It was the same with the rats. We have automated this, which is important for carrying out very large work on the medical examination of patients," Panfilov said.
According to the deputy head of the FPI, modern methods of cancer detection are quite time-consuming and, as a rule, patients seek medical help at late stages, when treatment is already ineffective.
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