A swallowable X-ray dosimeter for the real-time monitoring of radiotherapy.
Bo HouLuying YiDehong HuZichao LuoDuyang GaoChao LiBowen XingJiong-Wei WangChuen Neng LeeRong ZhangZonghai ShengBin ZhouXiaogang LiuPublished in: Nature biomedical engineering (2023)
Monitoring X-ray radiation in the gastrointestinal tract can enhance the precision of radiotherapy in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Here we report the design and performance, in the gastrointestinal tract of rabbits, of a swallowable X-ray dosimeter for the simultaneous real-time monitoring of absolute absorbed radiation dose and of changes in pH and temperature. The dosimeter consists of a biocompatible optoelectronic capsule containing an optical fibre, lanthanide-doped persistent nanoscintillators, a pH-sensitive polyaniline film and a miniaturized system for the wireless readout of luminescence. The persistent luminescence of the nanoscintillators after irradiation can be used to continuously monitor pH without the need for external excitation. By using a neural-network-based regression model, we estimated the radiation dose from radioluminescence and afterglow intensity and temperature, and show that the dosimeter was approximately five times more accurate than standard methods for dose determination. Swallowable dosimeters may help to improve radiotherapy and to understand how radiotherapy affects tumour pH and temperature.
Keyphrases
- early stage
- high resolution
- radiation induced
- locally advanced
- radiation therapy
- quantum dots
- neural network
- energy transfer
- dual energy
- solid phase extraction
- magnetic resonance imaging
- mass spectrometry
- drug delivery
- high intensity
- high speed
- room temperature
- single molecule
- gold nanoparticles
- molecularly imprinted
- ionic liquid
- computed tomography
- liquid chromatography