LED device for cancer treatment

2024: Product Announcement

In mid-July 2024, researchers at the University of Notre Dame unveiled a new development in cancer therapy, a miniature wireless LED device that can be implanted directly into deep-seated tumors. The new approach uses the power of LEDs in combination with a photosensitive dye that allows the effective destruction of tumor cells while stimulating the body's immune response.

The researchers showed how light of different wavelengths, primarily green, can penetrate tissues and activate a light-sensitive dye injected into tumor cells. Such an activation process converts light into energy, which in turn triggers the production of toxic oxygen inside cancer cells, effectively leading to their self-destruction. This specific form of cell death is known as pyroptosis and attracts the attention of the immune system, which through such changes is able to recognize tumor cells and attack them more effectively.

Design Cells iStock

The rice grain-sized device can be accurately implanted into a tumor and activated wirelessly using an external antenna. This function not only facilitates targeted treatment, but also allows you to track the response of the tumor in real time. The researchers suggest that in the future it will be possible to adjust the signal strength of the device and the activation time depending on the individual characteristics of the tumor to optimize the treatment results.

In upcoming studies, it is planned to test the device in mice to assess whether the activated immune response will affect not only the main tumor where the device is implanted, but also other tumor cells that have spread throughout the body.^[1]

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