A new drug analysis method

http://www.lifescientist.com.au/content/biotechnology/news/a-new-drug-analysis-method-1342718064

An international team of scientists has been working with a major biopharmaceutical company to investigate new ways to characterise protein formulations.

Co-led by The University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Associate Professor Vincent Wallace, the team includes scientists from the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield as well as industry partner , the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca.

Writing in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the researchers explain how terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is used to better understand the formulation of monoclonal antibody drugs to make medicines that can be used to treat a number of different diseases, including autoimmunity, oncology, neuroscience and infection. Terahertz spectroscopy detects the properties of matter with electromagnetic fields that are in the frequency range between a few hundred gigahertz and several terahertz.

“The biopharmaceutical industry are experts at packing monoclonal antibody drugs into a suitably small volume to give patients the option to self-administer by subcutaneous injection at home,” Professor Wallace said.

“However, as you increase the concentration of some antibody drugs, they can have a tendency to stick together, which the industry overcomes by formulation. Understanding of the exact role of water during formulation would be ideally complementary to the science underpinning that drug development process.”

The researchers explained that a special technique called terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has previously been shown to “detect overlapping extended hydration layers around proteins”. With this in mind, they “used THz-TDS to detect modulation of the extended hydration layer around monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) by the introduction of commonly used excipients”.

“Pretty much everything in biology is surrounded by water,” Professor Wallace said. “Using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy allows us to better understand the interaction of water and proteins, which is relevant to high concentration formulations. The biopharmaceutical industry may then be able to transfer this new analytical method into its drug development activities.”

The research follows the recent installation of a new commercial THz system in UWA’s School of Physics, said to be the first of its type in WA. According to Professor Wallace, the equipment will not only assist with the drug analysis research, but also in many other medical and non-medical applications.

Terahertz Imaging could cut down Breast Cancer Surgeries

Shown is a drawing of a breast duct containing ductal carcinoma in situ. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

http://ihnma.com/2011/05/07/terahertz-imaging-could-cut-down-breast-cancer-surgeries/

— A promising new strategy to guarantee total tumor elimination at breast cancer excision is launched while in the could problem of Radiology.

Researchers applied mild waves in a very recently explored area of your electromagnetic spectrum–the terahertz region–to study excised breast tissue and ascertain if your eliminated tissue margins had been distinct of cancer, with superior effects. This technologies has the prospective to eradicate the want for numerous surgeries and tissue samples to obtain distinct surgical margins.

"We uncovered that terahertz mild could reliably distinguish in between ordinary breast tissue, tumor and in some cases early-stage ‘in situ’ cancers in excised tissue samples," mentioned Vincent P. Wallace, Ph.D., lead investigator at TeraView, who labored with Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, England, in conducting the research. "This technologies could assist the surgeon in right away identifying residual cancer soon after the major tumor continues to be eliminated, as a result minimizing the want for more surgical methods."

Currently, excised tissue samples need to be sent for histopathologic examination, which normally requires various days. as a result, surgeons will not know if each of the tumor continues to be eliminated till effectively soon after the surgical treatment continues to be accomplished, and typically, repeat surgeries need to be scheduled. for that very first time, nevertheless, terahertz imaging has the prospective to eradicate the want for subsequent methods by permitting the surgeon to evaluate tissue samples throughout the original excision treatment.

Terahertz mild is found in between the infrared and microwave portions of your electromagnetic spectrum. The scientists uncovered that by putting a slice of excised breast tissue on the exclusive quartz plate and exposing it to terahertz mild, the mild waves mirrored in the tissue contained one of a kind information and facts about its state. The scientists had been ready to distinguish both equally invasive and noninvasive breast carcinomas from nutritious tissue.

Twenty-two excised breast tissue samples had been obtained from 22 girls who underwent both broad neighborhood excision or mastectomy to do away with breast cancer. All samples had been very first sliced and imaged with terahertz mild, and after that submitted for histopathologic evaluation. Imaging took much less than 5 minutes.

"There had been considerable variations while in the optical properties of ordinary and diseased tissue," Dr. Wallace mentioned. The measurement and form of your diseased areas at terahertz imaging had been in comparison with people at histopathologic examination, with superior effects. All but 3 samples yielded invasive cancers. In complete, there have been two invasive lobular carcinomas, 14 invasive ductal carcinomas, 3 combined invasive ductal and lobular carcinomas, two conditions of pure ductal carcinoma in situ and a person dense radial scar.

In breast cancer excision surgical treatment, the goal will be to do away with the complete tumor with the enough margin of ordinary tissue, though minimizing the sum of nutritious tissue becoming eliminated. If a histopathologist analyzes the tissue and finds tumor at or close to the edges, this signifies that there is actually a greater possibility of cancer recurrence. A 2nd operation is essential to do away with additional tissue, involving more hospital sources and greater chance of individual morbidity. as a result, there is actually a medical want to precisely outline the margins of your tumor throughout surgical treatment.

"Terahertz Pulsed Imaging of Human Breast Tumors." Collaborating with Dr. Wallace on this paper had been Anthony J. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., Mercedes Jimenez-Linan, M.D., Ph.D., M.R.C.Path., Lynda Bobrow, M.B.B.Ch., F.R.C.Path., Richard J. Pye, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., Anand D. Purushotham, M.B.B.S., M.D., and Donald D. Arnone, Ph.D. TeraView didn’t fund this research.

More developments using Terahertz for medical scanning

(My note: This story is very interesting as it recognizes a "hybrid" use of terahertz scanning in combination with Optical Coherence Tomography, to overcome some of the recognized limitations with terahertz in medical scanning. It would be especially interesting if Thomas Braun with T-Ray Science would care to comment on how this approach matches up with his companies development of medical scanning using terahertz).
Monday, 01 February 2010
University of Western Australia

In addition to X-rays and MRI scans, we may
soon have access to T-ray technology.

Technology used to detect the echo of the Big Bang is being adapted for use in assessing burns and superficial cancers such as skin cancer.

Medical physicist Associate Professor Vincent Wallace of The University of Western Australia's School of Physics is the recipient of an Australian Research Council grant of almost $200,000 to investigate a technique already in use in fields including astronomy and remote sensing. Combining the novel technique with other high-resolution imaging methods could aid doctors in the fight against disease.

Terahertz rays (T-rays) are at the opposite end of the spectrum to X-rays and, while not penetrating deeply, can provide images of burns and cancers including breast and gastro-intestinal without the danger of ionising radiation. Combining T-rays with another technology called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), which provides cross-sectional scans of tissues very much like ultrasound but at a higher resolution, could be used to detect early-stage cancers that do not show up on X-ray or through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

A/Professor Wallace said the new medical diagnostic techniques would be especially applicable in Australia, the country with the highest skin cancer incidence rate in the world. Australians are four times more likely to develop a skin cancer than any other form of cancer and approximately two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70.

T-rays and OCT will help surgeons determine the margins of tumours before or during surgery and to assess the depth of burns, translating data into clear on-screen images. In future, they will complement existing technologies like X-ray and MRI adding to the arsenal of techniques doctors can use to diagnose and treat disease. Terahertz technology has been in use since the 1990s but has only recently begun to be developed for use in medical applications. For example, an intra-operative T-ray probe that A/Prof Wallace helped develop is being trialled at Guys Hospital in London. Terahertz imaging is also being adapted in airport security systems, A/Professor Wallace said.

After graduating from University College London, A/Professor Wallace completed his PhD at London's Royal Marsden Hospital, a specialist cancer hospital. He is leading this ARC project in collaboration with Dr Peter Siegel, a scientist working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, who has long had a strong interest in the medical opportunities of T-rays. "Australia will benefit from these new medical diagnostic techniques," Associate Professor Wallace said. "This multidisciplinary international research has additional wide-ranging benefits in biology, pharmaceutical science and national security."