Accelerators for medical physics: new diagnostic tools using synchrotron radiation
Improving the tools available to the scientific community for medical diagnostics is one of the objectives of the research carried out by INFN through projects related to the physics of accelerators. The synchrotron light produced by the DAFNE accelerator of the Frascati National Laboratories is used for the analysis of materials including biological tissues, to identify their characteristics and define new strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors.
The Dafne-Light synchrotron light facility is open to external users through access programs such as the H2020 CALIPSOPlus program, in which researchers from the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences have developed an innovative methodology for diagnosis early head and neck cancers.
The research, published in Scientific Reports, explores the potential of Fourier Transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy to study the biochemical alterations responsible for the development of this type of cancer.
The main finding of the research is that within tumor tissues there are regions that differ significantly in biochemical content, identifying the crucial role of lipids in physiology and carcinogenesis.
These findings are particularly important for timely and accurate diagnosis and for guiding appropriate treatment decisions, which can reduce the chance of recurrence.
Paluszkiewicz, C., Roman, M., Piergies, N. et al. Tracking of the biochemical changes upon pleomorphic adenoma progression using vibrational microspectroscopy. Sci Rep 11, 18010 (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97377-2
Contacts:
Prof. Czesława Paluszkiewcz
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342, Kraków, Poland
Czeslawa.Paluszkiewicz@ifj.edu.pl