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Sangeeta Bhatia: This tiny particle could roam your body to find tumors
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What if we could find cancerous tumors years before they can harm us -- without expensive screening facilities or even steady electricity? Physician, bioengineer and entrepreneur Sangeeta Bhatia leads a multidisciplinary lab that searches for novel ways to understand, diagnose and treat human disease. Her target: the two-thirds of deaths due to cancer that she says are fully preventable. With remarkable clarity, she breaks down complex nanoparticle science and shares her dream for a radical new cancer test that could save millions of lives.
Sangeeta Bhatia - Physician, bioengineer and entrepreneur
Sangeeta Bhatia is a cancer researcher, MIT professor and biotech entrepreneur who works to adapt technologies developed in the computer industry for medical innovation. Full bio
Sangeeta Bhatia is a cancer researcher, MIT professor and biotech entrepreneur who works to adapt technologies developed in the computer industry for medical innovation. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
In the space that used
to house one transistor,
to house one transistor,
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we can now fit one billion.
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That made it so that a computer
the size of an entire room
the size of an entire room
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now fits in your pocket.
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You might say the future is small.
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As an engineer,
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I'm inspired by this miniaturization
revolution in computers.
revolution in computers.
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As a physician,
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I wonder whether we could use it
to reduce the number of lives lost
to reduce the number of lives lost
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due to one of the fastest-growing
diseases on Earth:
diseases on Earth:
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cancer.
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Now when I say that,
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what most people hear me say
is that we're working on curing cancer.
is that we're working on curing cancer.
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And we are.
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But it turns out
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that there's an incredible
opportunity to save lives
opportunity to save lives
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through the early detection
and prevention of cancer.
and prevention of cancer.
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Worldwide, over two-thirds of deaths
due to cancer are fully preventable
due to cancer are fully preventable
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using methods that we already
have in hand today.
have in hand today.
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Things like vaccination, timely screening
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and of course, stopping smoking.
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But even with the best tools
and technologies that we have today,
and technologies that we have today,
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some tumors can't be detected
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until 10 years after
they've started growing,
they've started growing,
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when they are 50 million
cancer cells strong.
cancer cells strong.
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What if we had better technologies
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to detect some of these more
deadly cancers sooner,
deadly cancers sooner,
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when they could be removed,
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when they were just getting started?
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Let me tell you about how
miniaturization might get us there.
miniaturization might get us there.
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This is a microscope in a typical lab
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that a pathologist would use
for looking at a tissue specimen,
for looking at a tissue specimen,
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like a biopsy or a pap smear.
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This $7,000 microscope
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would be used by somebody
with years of specialized training
with years of specialized training
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to spot cancer cells.
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This is an image from a colleague
of mine at Rice University,
of mine at Rice University,
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum.
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What she and her team have done
is miniaturize that whole microscope
is miniaturize that whole microscope
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into this $10 part,
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and it fits on the end
of an optical fiber.
of an optical fiber.
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Now what that means is instead
of taking a sample from a patient
of taking a sample from a patient
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and sending it to the microscope,
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you can bring the microscope
to the patient.
to the patient.
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And then, instead of requiring
a specialist to look at the images,
a specialist to look at the images,
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you can train the computer to score
normal versus cancerous cells.
normal versus cancerous cells.
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Now this is important,
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because what they found
working in rural communities,
working in rural communities,
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is that even when they have
a mobile screening van
a mobile screening van
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that can go out into the community
and perform exams
and perform exams
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and collect samples
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and send them to the central
hospital for analysis,
hospital for analysis,
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that days later,
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women get a call
with an abnormal test result
with an abnormal test result
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and they're asked to come in.
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Fully half of them don't turn up
because they can't afford the trip.
because they can't afford the trip.
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With the integrated microscope
and computer analysis,
and computer analysis,
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Rebecca and her colleagues
have been able to create a van
have been able to create a van
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that has both a diagnostic setup
and a treatment setup.
and a treatment setup.
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And what that means
is that they can do a diagnosis
is that they can do a diagnosis
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and perform therapy on the spot,
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so no one is lost to follow up.
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That's just one example of how
miniaturization can save lives.
miniaturization can save lives.
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Now as engineers,
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we think of this
as straight-up miniaturization.
as straight-up miniaturization.
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You took a big thing
and you made it little.
and you made it little.
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But what I told you before about computers
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was that they transformed our lives
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when they became small enough
for us to take them everywhere.
for us to take them everywhere.
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So what is the transformational
equivalent like that in medicine?
equivalent like that in medicine?
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Well, what if you had a detector
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that was so small that it could
circulate in your body,
circulate in your body,
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find the tumor all by itself
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and send a signal to the outside world?
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It sounds a little bit
like science fiction.
like science fiction.
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But actually, nanotechnology
allows us to do just that.
allows us to do just that.
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Nanotechnology allows us to shrink
the parts that make up the detector
the parts that make up the detector
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from the width of a human hair,
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which is 100 microns,
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to a thousand times smaller,
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which is 100 nanometers.
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And that has profound implications.
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It turns out that materials
actually change their properties
actually change their properties
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at the nanoscale.
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You take a common material like gold,
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and you grind it into dust,
into gold nanoparticles,
into gold nanoparticles,
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and it changes from looking
gold to looking red.
gold to looking red.
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If you take a more exotic material
like cadmium selenide --
like cadmium selenide --
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forms a big, black crystal --
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if you make nanocrystals
out of this material
out of this material
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and you put it in a liquid,
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and you shine light on it,
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they glow.
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And they glow blue, green,
yellow, orange, red,
yellow, orange, red,
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depending only on their size.
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It's wild! Can you imagine an object
like that in the macro world?
like that in the macro world?
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It would be like all the denim jeans
in your closet are all made of cotton,
in your closet are all made of cotton,
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but they are different colors
depending only on their size.
depending only on their size.
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(Laughter)
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So as a physician,
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what's just as interesting to me
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is that it's not just
the color of materials
the color of materials
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that changes at the nanoscale;
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the way they travel
in your body also changes.
in your body also changes.
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And this is the kind of observation
that we're going to use
that we're going to use
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to make a better cancer detector.
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So let me show you what I mean.
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This is a blood vessel in the body.
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Surrounding the blood vessel is a tumor.
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We're going to inject nanoparticles
into the blood vessel
into the blood vessel
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and watch how they travel
from the bloodstream into the tumor.
from the bloodstream into the tumor.
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Now it turns out that the blood vessels
of many tumors are leaky,
of many tumors are leaky,
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and so nanoparticles can leak out
from the bloodstream into the tumor.
from the bloodstream into the tumor.
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Whether they leak out
depends on their size.
depends on their size.
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So in this image,
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the smaller, hundred-nanometer,
blue nanoparticles are leaking out,
blue nanoparticles are leaking out,
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and the larger, 500-nanometer,
red nanoparticles
red nanoparticles
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are stuck in the bloodstream.
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So that means as an engineer,
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depending on how big
or small I make a material,
or small I make a material,
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I can change where it goes in your body.
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In my lab, we recently made
a cancer nanodetector
a cancer nanodetector
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that is so small that it could travel
into the body and look for tumors.
into the body and look for tumors.
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We designed it to listen
for tumor invasion:
for tumor invasion:
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the orchestra of chemical signals
that tumors need to make to spread.
that tumors need to make to spread.
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For a tumor to break out
of the tissue that it's born in,
of the tissue that it's born in,
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it has to make chemicals called enzymes
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to chew through
the scaffolding of tissues.
the scaffolding of tissues.
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We designed these nanoparticles
to be activated by these enzymes.
to be activated by these enzymes.
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One enzyme can activate a thousand
of these chemical reactions in an hour.
of these chemical reactions in an hour.
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Now in engineering, we call
that one-to-a-thousand ratio
that one-to-a-thousand ratio
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a form of amplification,
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and it makes something ultrasensitive.
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So we've made an ultrasensitive
cancer detector.
cancer detector.
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OK, but how do I get this activated
signal to the outside world,
signal to the outside world,
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where I can act on it?
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For this, we're going to use
one more piece of nanoscale biology,
one more piece of nanoscale biology,
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and that has to do with the kidney.
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The kidney is a filter.
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Its job is to filter out the blood
and put waste into the urine.
and put waste into the urine.
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It turns out that what the kidney filters
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is also dependent on size.
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So in this image, what you can see
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is that everything smaller
than five nanometers
than five nanometers
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is going from the blood,
through the kidney, into the urine,
through the kidney, into the urine,
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and everything else
that's bigger is retained.
that's bigger is retained.
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OK, so if I make a 100-nanometer
cancer detector,
cancer detector,
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I inject it in the bloodstream,
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it can leak into the tumor
where it's activated by tumor enzymes
where it's activated by tumor enzymes
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to release a small signal
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that is small enough to be
filtered out of the kidney
filtered out of the kidney
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and put into the urine,
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I have a signal in the outside world
that I can detect.
that I can detect.
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OK, but there's one more problem.
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This is a tiny little signal,
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so how do I detect it?
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Well, the signal is just a molecule.
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They're molecules
that we designed as engineers.
that we designed as engineers.
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They're completely synthetic,
and we can design them
and we can design them
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so they are compatible
with our tool of choice.
with our tool of choice.
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If we want to use a really
sensitive, fancy instrument
sensitive, fancy instrument
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called a mass spectrometer,
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then we make a molecule
with a unique mass.
with a unique mass.
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Or maybe we want make something
that's more inexpensive and portable.
that's more inexpensive and portable.
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Then we make molecules
that we can trap on paper,
that we can trap on paper,
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like a pregnancy test.
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In fact, there's a whole
world of paper tests
world of paper tests
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that are becoming available
in a field called paper diagnostics.
in a field called paper diagnostics.
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Alright, where are we going with this?
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What I'm going to tell you next,
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as a lifelong researcher,
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represents a dream of mine.
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I can't say that's it's a promise;
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it's a dream.
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But I think we all have to have dreams
to keep us pushing forward,
to keep us pushing forward,
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even -- and maybe especially --
cancer researchers.
cancer researchers.
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I'm going to tell you what I hope
will happen with my technology,
will happen with my technology,
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that my team and I will put
our hearts and souls
our hearts and souls
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into making a reality.
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OK, here goes.
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I dream that one day,
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instead of going into
an expensive screening facility
an expensive screening facility
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to get a colonoscopy,
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or a mammogram,
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or a pap smear,
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that you could get a shot,
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wait an hour,
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and do a urine test on a paper strip.
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I imagine that this could even happen
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without the need for steady electricity,
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or a medical professional in the room.
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Maybe they could be far away
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and connected only by the image
on a smartphone.
on a smartphone.
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Now I know this sounds like a dream,
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but in the lab we already
have this working in mice,
have this working in mice,
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where it works better
than existing methods
than existing methods
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for the detection of lung,
colon and ovarian cancer.
colon and ovarian cancer.
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And I hope that what this means
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is that one day we can
detect tumors in patients
detect tumors in patients
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sooner than 10 years
after they've started growing,
after they've started growing,
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in all walks of life,
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all around the globe,
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and that this would lead
to earlier treatments,
to earlier treatments,
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and that we could save more lives
than we can today,
than we can today,
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with early detection.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sangeeta Bhatia - Physician, bioengineer and entrepreneurSangeeta Bhatia is a cancer researcher, MIT professor and biotech entrepreneur who works to adapt technologies developed in the computer industry for medical innovation.
Why you should listen
Trained as both a physician and engineer at Harvard, MIT, and Brown University, Sangeeta Bhatia leverages 'tiny technologies' of miniaturization to yield inventions with new applications in tissue regeneration, stem cell differentiation, medical diagnostics, predictive toxicology and drug delivery. She and her trainees have launched more than 10 biotechnology companies to improve human health.
Bhatia has received many honors including the Lemelson-MIT Prize, known as the 'Oscar for inventors,' and the Heinz Medal for groundbreaking inventions and advocacy for women in STEM fields. She is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Director of the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Science and Brown University's Board of Trustees.
Sangeeta Bhatia | Speaker | TED.com