Multi messenger Imaging of Cancer

Project Information

MIC

Grant agreement ID: 101032769

DOI

10.3030/101032769

Project closed

EC signature date 30 April 2021

Start date 1 January 2022

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 175 572,48

EU contribution

€ 175 572,48

Coordinated by

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MIC (Multi messenger Imaging of Cancer)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death worldwide according to the World Health Organization. It is a complex affliction which involves many biological processes across scales. Several imaging techniques are at a doctor's disposal in clinical practice to fight cancer. Echography, which relies on the transmission and reception of ultrasound waves, is increasingly used in to monitor cancer patients and guide therapy. Unfortunately, ultrasound is not yet capable of detecting early signs of cancer at the microscale. The aim of this research project is to develop an echography approach that enables imaging of early metabolic and vascular signs of cancer in a preclinical studies and if successful, in a pilot study in head and neck cancer patients in collaboration with Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This interdisciplinary research builds on three recent breakthroughs in the field of ultrasound: the development of high-speed 3D ultrasound imaging, the development of super-resolved ultrasound imaging of blood vessels, and the development of ultrasound biosensors capable of probing molecular environments in tissues.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the course of this project, we successfully developed a 3D ultrasound imaging method that works with a new class of large field of view ultrasound probes called row-column addressed arrays. With these new ultrasound probes, we showed that we can detect with a high sensitivity two important type of ultrasound contrast agents: gas-filled microbubbles used to visualize blood vessels, and protein-based nanostructures used to label cells with ultrasound contrast.
Using this novel capability, we showed that ultrasound imaging gene expression in cancer cells is now possible, and that cerebral blood vessels can be now detected in arbitrary planes of interest.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Our project has improved upon the state of the art of three different fields.
First, we have successfully developed a high-speed ultrasound imaging technique that can detect the nonlinear scattering of ultrasound contrast agents in deep tissue.
Second, using this technique, we have achieved volumetric ultrasound imaging of a new kind of ultrasound contrast agent for the first time.
Third, we successfully achieved ultrasound imaging of the cerebral vasculature in selective planes of interest in rodents.
Just as the field of optical fluorescence microscopy enabled breakthrough studies of cellular function in translucent organisms, we anticipate that the combination of 3D ultrasound imaging with utltrasound contrast agents, acoustic reporter genes and acoustic biosensors will unlock ultrasound imaging of cellular functions deep in mammalian tissues.
The research led to the filing of an invention, and the potential for commercialization of our imaging technique will be explored. Our research results have been communicated at multiple scientific events and schools to train future generations of scientists in the field of molecular ultrasound imaging.

3D ultrasound image of protein nanostructures