An intravascular magnetic wire for the high-throughput retrieval of circulating tumour cells in vivo

Abstract

The detection and analysis of rare blood biomarkers is necessary for early diagnosis of cancer and to facilitate the development of tailored therapies. However, current methods for the isolation of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) or nucleic acids present in a standard clinical sample of only 5–10 ml of blood provide inadequate yields for early cancer detection and comprehensive molecular profiling. Here, we report the development of a flexible magnetic wire that can retrieve rare biomarkers from the subject’s blood in vivo at a much higher yield. The wire is inserted and removed through a standard intravenous catheter and captures biomarkers that have been previously labelled with injected magnetic particles. In a proof-of-concept experiment in a live porcine model, we demonstrate the in vivo labelling and single-pass capture of viable model CTCs in less than 10 s. The wire achieves capture efficiencies that correspond to enrichments of 10–80 times the amount of CTCs in a 5-ml blood draw, and 500–5,000 times the enrichments achieved using the commercially available Gilupi CellCollector.

Detection of circulating tumor cells in colorectal cancer patients using the GILUPI CellCollector: results from a prospective, single‐center study

“…However, the estimated blood volume screened with the CC was so far from the 2–2.5 L that can be screened with DLA and that parity between the two techniques does not seem attainable. A potential significant improvement of the method, more effectively exploiting the large blood volume passing the wire, could be achieved by adding in vivo immuno‐magnetic capturing, as recently suggested by Vermesh and colleagues (Ophir Vermesh et al ., ).…”

Detection of Rare Objects by Flow Cytometry: Imaging, Cell Sorting, and Deep Learning Approaches

“…Therefore, alternative approaches for fast processing of large blood volumes including in vivo analysis, are being developed. Vermesh et al described an immunomagnetic cell enrichment method for the isolation of CTCs in vivo [270]. This implies the immunomagnetic CTCs labeling with antibody-conjugated magnetic beads injected directly to the bloodstream and capturing of the labeled cells with a flexible magnetic wire that was inserted and removed through a standard intravenous catheter.…”

Multifunctional Fibers to Shape Future Biomedical Devices

“…f) Cell‐capturing efficiencies in the porcine model. g–i) Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, Springer Nature.…”

“…Apart from continuous analysis of physiological signals in vivo, fiber devices were implanted in blood vessels to retrieve rare biomarkers with high yields . The detection and analysis of rare blood biomarkers are extremely necessary for early diagnosis of disease.…”