Technology Brings Agencies Together
Over the past four years, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office on Women's Health has been working on a major initiative to foster collaboration between federal agencies and the private sector. They have tried to harness imaging technology from the intelligence, defense, and space agencies, and apply it to breast cancer detection.

"We have formed a working group between imaging scientists from these agencies and the nation's top radiologists to explore the transfer of technologies. This has really motivated agencies to feel they may have a contribution to make in terms of health," said Susan Blumenthal, MD, US Assistant Surgeon General.

"From the CIA, they found the same technology spy satellites use to find tanks could help us to find small cancerous lesions camouflaged behind dense breast tissue. Optics of the Hubble telescope have been used to help guide the high-speed needle in stereotactic biopsies," Dr. Blumenthal said.

When DHHS learned NASA was developing a robotic neurosurgery tool, the department believed the technology could be transferred to fight diseases such as breast and ovarian cancer. Last year, the two agencies signed an agreement on Capitol Hill creating a partnership that hopes to identify, develop, and adapt NASA technologies that may be applied to women's health problems.

Exploration Yields Help From the Heavens
The smart probe was originally developed for geological exploration on other planets. Its sensors measure texture, conductivity, hardness, and alkalinity of the specimens gathered in space. It was then adapted to use in medical emergencies on spacecraft. The probe can measure, for example, whether hemorrhaging is occurring, and if so, how much blood is being lost.

Most cancer researchers who previously tested sensor technology, used only one sensor to determine whether a tissue is benign or malignant, according to Dr. Robert Mah, NASA researcher and developer of the probe. However, this method does not yield a variety of information. The smart probe has numerous sensors that can measure many variables.

Dr. Mah said his team decided to look at more tumor characteristics to more accurately determine whether the tissue is benign or malignant. Some of these parameters include stiffness of the tissue, using different light waves to determine how the cancerous tissue absorbs different wavelengths, blood flow, the structure of the cells, and pH levels of the tissue.

"The strength of the project is the software. It can take high dimension parameters and teach it [the computer] what type of tissue it is from the clinical trial data. Over time, as you build up a larger database, you have better ability to discriminate between different tissues," said Dr. Mah. This method of teaching a computer, called neural network technology, is similar to the way humans learn, but very different from the usual ways of programming a computer.

"The software provides more information to help characterize the data coming in from the sensor tip. The software uses pattern recognition to look at certain features of the tumor," said Dr. Mah. The software is also being used to integrate information from ultrasounds.

The probe has not yet been tested on humans. A joint research project begins in January 1999 between NASA and Stanford University to study the application of the probe for breast cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

"We hope to use this device not only to detect cancer, but to understand the nature of an individual cancer," said Stefanie Jeffrey, MD, assistant professor of surgery and chief of breast surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine.

"This information may help us determine the distinctive features of a malignancy and how the disease may progress. More knowledge about the cancer may guide us to better individualized treatment," Dr. Jeffrey added.

Link:www.nasa.gov