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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/400858
tool for Improved Determination of cancerous tissues Researchers have created a new tool that will help them identify and distinguish cancerous breast tissue from normal tissue. The tool, known DESI mass spectrometry imaging (or Desorption ElectroSpray Ionization mass spectrometry imaging), acts upon the turning molecules into electrically charged versions of themselves, called ions, so that the can be identified by their mass. It then examined the mass of the ions and the contents of a tissue sample is analyzed. "Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of classifying cancerous and normal breast tissues using DESI mass spectrometry imaging," said Nathalie Agar, PhD, director of the Surgical Molecular Imaging Laboratory, BWH Departments of Neurosurgery and Radiology, senior study author. "The results may help us to move forward in improving this method so that surgeons can use it to rapidly detect residual cancer tissue during breast cancer surgery, hopefully decreasing the need for multiple operations." Furtheremore, the study noted that several fatty acids, such as oleic acid, were more common in breast cancer tissue compared to normal tissue. The tool has been documented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 22 MacDirectory DePartMent AdvAnCES scientists Develop cloaking Device to Make objects Invisible Remember the invisibility cloak which Harry Potter often donned to get certain information? Such cloak has become a reality now. Scientists at the University of Rochester developed a new device that not only beats the limitations of other devices, but also uses inexpensive, readily available materials. In order to make this device, the researchers used a combination of four standard lenses that keep the object hidden as the viewer moves up to several degrees away from the optimal viewing position. The team put a cloaked object in front of a grid background. As they looked through the lenses and changed their viewing angle by moving from side to side, the grid shifted as though there was no cloaking device. "This cloak bends light and sends it through the center of the device, so the on-axis region cannot be blocked or cloaked," said Joseph Choi, one of the researchers. This device can be useful for surgeons to "see" through their hands to what they're operating on at the time. This same principle could be applied to trucks to allow them to see through blind spots on their vehicles.