Theranostics 2016; 6(10):1603-1610. doi:10.7150/thno.15534 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114;
2. Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114;
3. Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114;
4. Center for Lymphoma, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114;
5. Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA 02114;
6. Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114;
7. Global Oncology Initiative, Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center, Boston, MA, 02115;
8. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114;
9. Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
* These authors contributed equally to the paper.
Low-cost, rapid and accurate detection technologies are key requisites to cope with the growing global cancer challenges. The need is particularly pronounced in resource-limited settings where treatment opportunities are often missed due to the absence of timely diagnoses. We herein describe a Holographic Assessment of Lymphoma Tissue (HALT) system that adopts a smartphone as the basis for molecular cancer diagnostics. The system detects malignant lymphoma cells labeled with marker-specific microbeads that produce unique holographic signatures. Importantly, we optimized HALT to detect lymphomas in fine-needle aspirates from superficial lymph nodes, procedures that align with the minimally invasive biopsy needs of resource-constrained regions. We equipped the platform to directly address the practical needs of employing novel technologies for “real world” use. The HALT assay generated readouts in <1.5 h and demonstrated good agreement with standard cytology and surgical pathology.
Keywords: Cancer diagnostics, Smartphone testing, Point-of-care diagnostics, global oncology.