(86d) Nanosensor-Enabled Chemical Imaging for Cancer Diagnostics

Bladder cancer is the tenth most common cancer worldwide and has the highest lifetime treatment cost per patient among all cancers, due to its high recurrence rate and the need for frequent, invasive cystoscopy monitoring. While cystoscopy remains the gold standard for bladder cancer detection, it often struggles to identify flat lesions, necessitating biopsies when suspicious areas are seen. In addition, the detection of analytes from extracted biofluids—such as through urinalysis—is challenged by sample dilution, loss during urination, and biomarker instability outside the body. To address these limitations, we introduce a novel chemical imaging platform for in situ bladder cancer diagnostics. This system integrates near-infrared fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotubes with a medical catheter utilizing a ball-lensed scanning probe for three-dimensional chemical signal mapping. We engineer nanosensors using a synthetic copolymer that selectively responds to cancer biomarkers. Our results demonstrate differential sensor responses between apoptosis in six bladder cancer cell lines and healthy fibroblast cells. Moreover nanosensor-functionalized catheters track drug-stimulated tumor responses, enabling real-time protein efflux mapping in vitro. We also demonstrate the spatial imaging capability of this platform, achieving a radial detection range of 2 cm and a tumor size resolution of 16 mm². These findings highlight the potential of this chemical imaging tool for advanced bladder cancer diagnostics.