A study resulted in the development of a fiber sensor that could aid in the diagnosis and identification of the best treatments for thyroid cancer. The study arose from a collaboration between three Institutes of the Naples National Research Council - the Institute for Endocrinology and Oncology "Gaetano Salvatore," the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technologies "Giulio Natta," and the Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems "Eduardo Caianiello" - together with the Departments of Engineering of Sannio and Clinical Medicine and Surgery of the University of Naples Federico II. The device, described in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, can detect and quantify the presence of a specific protein, thyroglobulin, in needle aspiration washing fluid. The presence of this protein in the washing fluid of needle aspirations obtained from lymph nodes "suspected" of metastasis is now one of the methods that allows the diagnosis of extrathyroidal extension of tumor tissue with certainty. As a result, the outcome of this examination is critical both in the initial surgical approach and in the subsequent patient follow-up.
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