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alliedacademies
August 17-18, 2017 | Toronto, Canada
ANNUAL BIOTECHNOLOGY CONGRESS
Ann Biol Sci, 2017
ISSN: 2348-1927
Imaging is a fundamental tool in the practice of medicine.
The interaction of medical imaging radiation with new
materials has long been exploited to develop new and
improved imaging systems and techniques. In parallel with
these advances, there is increasing interest in developing
new contrast agents for the diagnosis of disease. Exogenous
contrast agents are non-native sources of contrast that
differentially scatter, absorb, or emit medical imaging
radiation (e.g., sound waves for ultrasound imaging,
radiofrequency waves for magnetic resonance imaging,
near IR light for photoacoustic imaging, and x-rays for
computed tomography and mammography) as compared
to surrounding tissues and inherent background noise such
that their location can be tracked upon introduction into a
patient. At the forefront of new contrast agent development
are new, clinically-relevant, materials that can be activated
by medical imaging radiation external to the patient and
under image guidance, to characterize and treat cancer.
Since the contrast agents’ in-vivo distribution and interaction
with radiation are strongly size- and material-dependent,
a new opportunity in engineering is the creation of new
nanoscale systems that can be tailored for specific contrast
imaging and with therapeutic properties. This talk will focus
on the development of new perfluorocarbon agents that
can facilitate more focused and targeted delivery of cancer
therapies to tumours for higher therapeutic ratios, and can
permit the treatment of hard-to-access organs like the brain
in a minimally-invasive manner
Speaker Biography
Dr. Naomi Matsuura, PhD, P.Eng., is currently an Associate Professor in Materials
Science & Engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering
(IBBME) with a cross-appointment in Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Matsuura leads a research program at the intersection of nanoengineering and
medicine, focusing on the design of new contrast agents to guide the imaging and
treatment of disease. Awards and recognitions include the John C. Polanyi Prize in
Physiology/Medicine and Physics, an NSERC Discovery Accelerator Award, and the
Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
e:
Engineering biomaterials for medical imaging of cancer
Naomi Matsuura
University of Toronto, Canada
Naomi Matsuura, Ann Biol Sci, 2017, 5:3
DOI: 10.21767/2348-1927-C1-002