Recent Highlights from the
Medical Sciences Division
First technique to measure Alzheimer's disease onset
. DOE researchers at UCLA have
developed an imaging technique that
can detect early lesions in the
brains of Alzheimer's disease before
symptoms begin. The method utilizes a
novel radiotracer and highly
sensitive PET scanning. Early
identification of Alzheimer's lesion
offers the possibility of therapeutic
intervention before severe brain
injury and clinical debilitation
occurs.
BNCT technology transferred to NIH for clinical trials
. DOE research at the Brookhaven
National Laboratories, MIT and
Harvard Medical School established
the parameters of clinical safety of
boron neutron capture therapy in
humans. DOE has completed upgrade of
the Medical Reactor at MIT; the
facility now generates the most
advanced neutron beam for clinical
studies in the world. Using the
fundamental technology developed by
DOE, the National Cancer Institute
has initiated a BNCT clinical trial
in the treatment of brain cancer and
melanoma at the MIT medical reactor.
Successful transfer of DOE Micro-Pet technology to industry
. DOE investigators at UCLA have
successfully developed the Micro-Pet
for repeated physiological imaging of
small animals without sacrificing the
animal. The Micro-Pet is a major
advance in the study of animal models
of human disease. The technology
developed at UCLA has been
transferred to Concorde Microsystems,
Inc. of Knoxville, TN for marketing
and public use.
Helping the blind to see. A
collaborative project between USC
Doheny Eye Institute, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Sandia National
Laboratory, Argonne National
Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, and Los Alamos
National Laboratory is aimed at
developing an artificial retina to
restore the sight of patients with
retinitis pigmentosa and age-related
macular degeneration. A milestone was
reached in which a prototype design
of a high-density sensor was
successfully inserted into a canine
and tested successfully. Future
programmatic goals include
improvement in the prototype design
of the retinal device and eventually
implantation into the eye of a blind
person.
New, ultra-sensitive detection of prostate cancer protein in the blood
. DOE scientists at ORNL and
UC-Berkeley have developed a cancer
detecting microchip that works as a
sensitive assay for prostate cancer.
The device utilizes a micro machine
cantilever to detect prostate
specific antigen and is twenty times
more sensitive than currently used
assays. This technology, which has
been pioneered at ORNL, can be
adapted to measure other clinically
important molecules at high levels of
sensitivity.
DOE technology for stroke treatment transferred to NIH
. DOE researchers at Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory have
successfully completed the material
design of a mechanical shape memory
polymer device that can be introduced
into the vessels in the brain and
successfully remove a blood clot
causing a stroke. This technology has
the potential of significantly
reducing deaths from one of the major
disease killers in the United States.
The DOE has successfully transferred
this technology to the NIH, which
will fund initial clinical evaluation
of the device.
A Multitracer Technique for Diagnosing the Root Cause of Obesity
. Brookhaven National Laboratory
(BNL) scientists have developed a
multi-radiotracer
(carbon-11-raclopride,
fluorine-18-FDG and carbon-11 cocaine
combined) PET imaging approach which
shows that obese individuals have an
understimulated brain dopamine system
similar to drug abusers. Dopamine is
a brain chemical that is important in
reward and well-being. This
disruption of dopamine function may
account for pathological overeating,
which has parallels in the drug
abuser who cannot stop taking the
drug even when this behavior is
detrimental. This suggests that
improving dopamine function may be a
useful treatment strategy for
obesity, a major public health
problem affecting more than 25% of
the United States population.
New Toluene Radiotracer Developed to Study Inhalant Abuse
. BNL scientists have
successfully labeled the volatile
chemical toluene with carbon-11 for
PET imaging. Using carbon-11 toluene
for PET imaging, Brookhaven
scientists have shown for the first
time that toluene, the most common
solvent of abuse, rapidly enters the
brain and localizes on the same areas
of the brain that are affected by
cocaine and other drugs of abuse.
This new approach and the new
knowledge that it is generating are
an important step in understanding
and eventually treating addiction to
inhalants. The abuse of inhalants
("huffing") by children is
a growing problem worldwide.
PET Imaging Study Provides New
Knowledge For Improved Targeting of
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder. For more than 40 years,
attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) has been treated with
Ritalin, a stimulant. Yet there have
been no studies showing how Ritalin
affects the human brain. Using PET
imaging with radiotracers (carbon-11
raclopride, and carbon-11 cocaine)
Brookhaven researchers have shown for
the first time in the human brain
that Ritalin elevates dopamine, a
signaling chemical that is important
in regulating attention. This new
knowledge will form the groundwork
for designing better drugs to treat
ADHD.
|
