Prof. Bumsoo Han, who will join the ME School as a faculty member this fall, authored one of the two articles highlighted in the June 2009 Nanotech News section of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.  The NCI is a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The highlighted paper, “Development of quantum dot-mediated fluorescence thermometry for thermal therapies,” was published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.  The goal of the work described in the paper is to create a "thermometer" that can measure space- and time-resolved temperatures in-vivo and will allow oncologists to ensure that all parts of a cancerous tumor have reached cell-killing temperatures during thermal cancer therapy.  Prof. Han and his team are exploring the use of quantum dots (QDs) of cadmium telluride/zinc sulfide as nanoscale thermometers capable of measuring the temperatures.  Quantum dots emit light with unique signatures in amounts that depend on their temperature. Before thermal treatment, the QDs are administered into the target tumor tissue and where they emit a baseline signal.  During thermal treatment, emissions from the quantum dots throughout the tumor and surrounding tissue are monitored so that the tumor can be killed and the healthy surrounding tissue can remain unharmed.  Prof. Han and his students demonstrated the ability of QDs to produce a 3-D temperature map with the required resolution and sensitivity to be used in treatment.