Iranian Scientists Design Electrical System for Detecting Cancerous Lymph Nodes

The new breakthrough is the result of a study conducted in collaboration between Iranian researchers from the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Tehran and the Cancer Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

“One of the technologies that is currently popular with many researchers in biological research is electrical impedance spectroscopy which relies on the fact that each type of tissue exhibits different electrical properties when an electric current passes through it that are due to the biological characteristics of the tissue, including the amount of cell aggregation, the amount of blood supply, the water content in the tissue, the properties of the cell membranes, the extracellular matrix, and its pathophysiological properties in general,” said Mohammad Abdol Ahad, a professor at the faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Tehran.

“Accordingly, if electrical stimulation with a specific voltage and frequency is generated in the body tissue, the tissue in response to this stimulation passes an electric current with a specific phase difference, which can be measured to obtain the impedance characteristics of the tissue,” he added.

Noting that the device enjoys high sensitivity and accuracy in detecting sentinel and non-sentinel lymph node involvement in the operating room, consistent with permanent pathology as the gold standard in patients who have not received chemotherapy, Abdol Ahad said, “In patients who have received chemotherapy, it is also able to detect lymph node involvement with high accuracy, considering the effects of drug treatment on the pathobiological characteristics of the lymph node tissue."

“Tests have shown that the accuracy of this device in detecting cancerous lymph nodes is greater than the accuracy of frozen section pathology and permanent pathology. Other features of this device include high sensitivity in detecting reactive (inflammatory) lymph node involvement and detecting small lymph node involvement or micrometastases,” he underlined.

In a relevant development in December, engineers at an Iranian technological company have managed to produce a 3D digital mammography device which has a lower price compared to the foreign model.

“3D digital mammography, using X-ray-based imaging technology and advanced data analysis, enables the identification of small cancerous masses and the detection of lesions hidden in dense tissues. This technology is a big breakthrough, specially for women with dense breast tissue, where detection is more difficult,” said Amir Askari Raad, the managing director of Payamed Electronic company.

Noting that each imported mammography device costs an average of $150,000, he said, “With the domestic production of these devices, not only the exchange rate is reduced by 80%, but also an annual saving of $12 million happens.”

“Payamed Electronic company has so far supplied over 600 mammography devices across the country and exported its product to Iraq, Syria and Türkiye,” Askari Raad said.

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