Nanotechnology breakthroughs envisioned for gastroenterology diagnostics and therapeutics

Nanotechnology is positioned to bring fundamental changes to the diagnosis and treatment of GI diseases, according to the Vadim Backman, MS, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago.

“The ways in which nanotechnology will change the field are going to be quite significant,” Dr. Backman said. He will give the Keynote Presentation at the 2018 AGA Tech Summit, sponsored by the AGA Center for GI Innovation and Technology. He described progress toward breakthroughs in diagnostics – particularly early detection of GI cancers – and therapeutics, such as nanocage transport of drugs across cell membranes. Applications have moved beyond the theoretical.

Nanotechnology is a broad term that involves manipulation of any material on a nano scale, often defined, although not strictly, as less than 100 nanometers (nm). Most bacteria measure more than 1000 nm in at least one direction. A DNA nucleotide is 2 nm. In the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases, the advantages of working on a nanoscale mean opportunities to act on the most fundamental molecular processes, including the earliest stages of pathophysiology.

In diagnosis, nanotechnology has the ability to detect genetic and epigenetic distortions that are initial steps to carcinogenesis. One set of studies has been performed with partial-wave spectroscopic microscopy capable of quantifying the properties of cellular structures on a scale as low as 20 nm. Work in this area has already successfully identified events in neoplasia development that preceded any alteration detected by conventional techniques, such as histology.