(Describer) Streams of light collide to create a globe filled with water. Title: Science Nation. A woman reports on television in front of a graphic saying “Barnstable This Morning”.
[explosion]
In order to vote
in the November 8th election--
(male narrator)
For TV correspondent
Melissa Chartrand,
what started as
some abdominal pain
led to hysterectomy
three years ago.
They performed the hysterectomy,
but when I woke up, they said,
"You have ovarian cancer."
I was in total shock.
(narrator)
Shock that was followed
by grueling chemotherapy.
With few early symptoms,
ovarian cancer
can be hard to detect.
Early detection
is absolutely not only key
but probably the only way
to win the war against cancer.
(narrator)
With support from the
National Science Foundation,
biomedical engineer
Vadim Backman
is shedding light
on how to make
early cancer detection cheaper,
more accurate,
and less invasive.
(Backman)
We're developing
new optics technologies
to learn about tissue
structure and composition,
and we're applying
these technologies
for early cancer screening.
(narrator)
They use a new type
of microscopy,
part of a field
called "biophotonics."
Backman's team
demonstrates the process
using cheek cells
harvested with a brush.
(Describer) They're wiped onto a slide.
They then shine light
on the harvested cells.
Photons bounce off structures
within them at different angles,
depending on whether
they are healthy or not.
The process
is highly sensitive
and able to detect
very subtle abnormalities,
which could indicate problems
elsewhere in the body.
(Describer) Colors in the new images show greater differences inside a pre-cancerous cell than do black-and-white conventional images.
(Backman)
We see alterations in cells
that are indicative
of "pre-pre-cancer."
If you looked at the cells
in the microscope,
you would not tell
a difference.
(narrator)
Dr. Hemant Roy
demonstrates this probe,
currently in clinical trials,
that uses biophotonics
to analyze tissue
inside the mouth
for early lung cancer screening.
(Describer) A probe is placed on the inside of a woman's cheek.
With this probe, we've done
probably a couple
of hundred patients,
and we're about 90% accurate.
(narrator)
Backman will soon lead
a new clinical trial
to screen cervical cells
for signs of ovarian cancer,
something Melissa Chartrand
can appreciate.
(Chartrand)
If there had been
a pre-screening tool
or early detection,
I might not have had to
go through what I went through.
(narrator)
Using light
to one day save lives.
(Describer) A globe turns.
For Science Nation,
I'm Miles O'Brien.
