Researchers from the University at Buffalo in the United States developed a suspension of nanoparticles, when they reach the small intestine are activated with a harmless laser. This provides a noninvasive method that could help understand and identify gastrointestinal diseases.
The work was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology; which corresponding author, the specialist Jonathan Lowell, explained: “Conventional imaging methods show the organ and blockages, but this method allows you to see how the small intestine operates in real time […] Better imaging will improve our understanding of these diseases and allow doctors to more effectively care for people suffering from them.”
The average human small intestine is roughly 7 meters long it is where much of the digestion and absorption of food takes place. It is also where symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and other gastrointestinal illnesses occur.
Currently, to assess the organ, doctors typically require patients to drink barium (a thick, chalky liquid). Doctors then use X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasounds to assess the organ; however, these techniques are limited with respect to safety, accessibility and lack of adequate contrast, respectively. Also, none of these are highly effective at providing real-time imaging of movement such as peristalsis, which is the contraction of muscles that propels food through the small intestine.
The team of researchers worked with a family of dyes called naphthalcyanines. These small molecules absorb large portions of light in the near-infrared spectrum, which is the ideal range for biological contrast agents. However, they are unsuitable for the human body, because they don’t disperse in liquid and they can be absorbed from the intestine into the blood stream.To address these problems, the researchers formed nanoparticles called “nanonaps” that contain the colorful dye molecules, and added the abilities to disperse in liquid and move safely through the intestine.
In laboratory experiments performed with mice, the researchers administered the nanojuice orally. They then used photoacoustic tomography (PAT), which is pulsed laser lights that generate pressure waves that, when measured, provide a real-time and more nuanced view of the small intestine
The next step, according to the researchers, is to continue to refining the technique for human trials and move into other areas of the gastrointestinal tract
Vía: www.abc.es
