Within the skin, cells use molecular signals to communicate with each other. These signals are released in the fluid that surrounds the cells, and will float in there until they are received by other cells. Since communication between cells is one of the first things that go wrong in the development of a cancer, it is important to be able to sample this fluid and analyse its components.
This is even more important for IMcoMET, as our concept rely on the long-term removal of the inter-cellular fluid and all signals, especially those produced by the cancer cells.
Yet, it has been notoriously difficult to extract this fluid. All current methods are cumbersome, only allow extraction of minute amounts, and only at a few timepoints. Therefore the fist challenge that our team faced at the start of the project was to come up with a dedicated technology. This technology, called M-Duo is now developed and patented by IMcoMET.
Our technology uses small needles placed very close from each other and that work in pairs: one needle injects a carrier fluid while the other aspirates it. As the fluid travels between the two needle inside the skin, it mixes with the cell fluid and drains all the signals present in that area. This can be done in a continuous way without having to remove the needles.