Development of a magnetic probe for identifying the sentinel lymph node

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25282129
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Biomedical engineering/Biomaterial science and engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Sekino Masaki 東京大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (20401036)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 日下部 守昭 東京大学, 農学生命科学研究科, 教授 (60153277) ; 武井 寛幸 日本医科大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (40261846) ; 中川 貴之 東京大学, 農学生命科学研究科, 准教授 (40447363) ; 塩澤 幹雄 自治医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (20364515)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): OHSAKI Hiroyuki 東京大学, 大学院新領域創成科学研究科, 教授 (10203754) ; INOUE Yusuke 東北大学, 加齢医学研究所, 助教 (80611079) ; KIM Dongmin 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科, 客員研究員 (30638466)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 計測工学 / 磁性 / 電子デバイス・機器 / 癌 / 外科

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Treatment of breast cancer is carried out considering the occurrence of metastasis in lymph nodes. Extracting the lymph nodes for examining the metastasis causes side effects such as edema. For minimizing the invasiveness, sentinel lymph node biopsy is conducted. The sentinel lymph node refers to the first lymph node which receives lymphatic flow from the primary tumor. This lymph node is selectively extracted, and other nodes are preserved. In this study, we developed a magnetic probe system for identifying the sentinel lymph node by introducing magnetic fluid into the lymphatic system and by detecting the magnetic fluids accumulating in the sentinel lymph node. The system does not contain radioisotope, and the handheld detector is compact. Clinical trials were performed using the developed system. The results showed the advantages of this system over the existing techniques.

Free Research Field

生体医工学