Imagine if a tiny video camera could be inserted into a cancerous tumor to let you know if a treatment was working.

While not exactly a video camera, Professor Michael Cima and his team at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT have designed a miniscule monitor that can be inserted into a tumor to detect cancer cells.

Tiny enough to fit inside a biopsy needle, the device contains iron nanoparticles inside a porous outer membrane. After insertion into a tumor during a standard biopsy, these cluster around cancer-related molecules as fluids move in and out of the device. A simple magnetic scan detects the clusters, revealing their local chemistry, so oncologists can track changes in the tumor over time.

Dr. Cima estimates that the nanodevice could possibly be introduced within 6 years, much quicker than required for drug development.

Watch a 3:13 video here.