Flexible Electronic Strain Sensor for Real-Time Monitoring of Tumor Progression

Using advances in flexible electronics, researchers at Stanford have developed a stretchable strain sensor for monitoring solid tumor size progression on or near the skin in real time. The sensor continuously measures, records, and broadcasts tumor volume changes at a 10 ?m scale resolution – approximately the size of a single cell – and is capable of reading out cancer treatment efficacy studies within hours after therapy initiation. Such automated tumor measurements could revolutionize cancer treatment and screening throughput. Currently, tumor shrinkage is a key metric for establishing the efficacy of cancer treatments but measurement tools such as CT scanners and calipers provide only brief snapshots of the dynamic geometric changes occurring in vivo. Moreover, they are unable to detect the micrometer-scale volumetric transformations occurring at minute timescales. The new platform technology from Stanford is called FAST (Flexible Autonomous Sensors measuring Tumor volume progression) and is scalable, fully automated, and eliminates guesswork associated with conventional methods.

Overview of Flexible Autonomous Sensors measuring Tumor volume progression (FAST) technology (image credit: the inventors)

Stage of Development
Using mouse models with subcutaneously implanted lung cancer or B-cell lymphoma tumors, the sensors discerned a significant change in the tumor volumes of treated mice within five hours after small molecule therapy or immunotherapy initiation. Histology, caliper measurements, and luminescence imaging over a one-week treatment period validated the data from the continuous sensor.