Grant: Emerging Team Grant: Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine - LOI

The aim of the current proposal is the development of a single procedure for individualized diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The project applies recent advances in nanotechnology, molecular biology, microfuidics and microrobotics as well as image guided procedures. The project includes early diagnosis of brain tumor based on molecular MR imaging and image-guided biopsy with intraoperative MRI. For clinical studies, neuroArm, an MR-compatible ambidextrous robot for neurosurgery, will be used with a novel 3T intraoperative MRI. Animal studies will take advantage of an established 9.4T MRI system. The robotic system will allow image-guided, quantitative administration of cell-specific targeted contrast agents to the tumor site while intraoperative MRI will confirm particle localization, enable image-guided biopsy and resection control during open procedures. Molecular tissue characterization will be performed in near real-time using an innovative microfluidics system.