Defense Date

4-10-2020

Graduation Date

Spring 5-8-2020

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MS

Department

Biomedical Engineering

School

Rangos School of Health Sciences

Committee Chair

John Viator

Committee Member

Kimberly Williams

Keywords

photoacoustics, cell culture, adrenal cancer, flow cytometry

Abstract

With consistently high mortality rates in patients with adrenal cancer, lack of early detection and diagnosis are an ever increasing problem in fighting the deadly disease. Currently, very few patients are diagnosed with adrenal cancer within the early stages due to the absence of symptoms until large tumors are formed, which is in most cases is fatal. Because of this, early detection equipment is crucial to optimizing the survival rate in patients. We studied the absorbance wavelength of human adrenal carcinoma cells, as well as the minimum cell concentration needed in samples using photoacoustic flow cytometry (PAFC). PAFC generates ultrasonic waves when particles under flow absorb laser light. Due to the yellow color in adrenal cancer cells, we demonstrate that cells under flow optimally absorb a laser in blue/indigo color. We also determine the minimum number of cells needed per sample to produce a significant signal within the system. These novel findings will be further used in the future to develop a blood assay for early detection of adrenal cancer cells in the blood stream of patients within a clinical setting, aiding in early diagnosis, and consequentially decreased mortality rates in patients.

Language

English

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