Mammoth microchip for cancer detection

The world’s biggest microchip designed for medical imaging measuring a whopping 12.8cm x 12.8cm may help doctors diagnose cancer and study the impact of radiotherapy treatment more precisely than ever before.

Four UK institutions – University College London, Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Universities of Surrey and Lincoln – joined forced to create MI-3 Plus and the Dynamic range Adjustable for Medical Imaging Technology, or DynAMITe.

“DynAMITe was designed for medical imaging, in particular mammography and radiotherapy, so the individual pixels are much larger than those found in consumer digital cameras or mobile phones,” said Professor Nigel Allinson, who led the MI-3 Plus.

DynAMITe is a wafer-scale chip that is 200 times larger than the processing chips at the heart of current PCs and laptops. It is an Active Pixel Sensor developed in 0.18 micron CMOS technology. It possesses 1280 x 1280 pixels on a 100 micron pitch coplanar with 2560 x 2560 pixels on a 50 micron pitch.

It can be operated at frame rates up to 90 frames per second. The images it produces will show very clearly the impact of radiation on tumours, as well as aid detection in the early stages. It’s also super-strong and can withstand many years of exposure to radiation.

“As it will withstand exposure to very high levels of x-ray and other radiation, it will operate for many years in the adverse environment of cancer diagnosis and treatment instruments; and represents a major advance over the existing technology of amorphous silicon panels.

“Our clinical work has given us an insight into areas which the existing technology falls short, and we are very pleased the consortium was able to design a microchip that met our exact specifications for medical imaging,” said Professor Phil Evans from the ICR. “We are looking forward to investigating all the potential uses for this chip in cancer research and treatment.”