Category: Biomedical Engineering

When you think of a person being “immortal” you might think of a superhero, but the cells of an African American woman named Henrietta Lack are now famous. Rebecca Skloot wrote The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to reveal the corruption of the medical research field in the 1950s, and to give Henrietta credit for the medical discoveries that the use of her cells have provided. In addition, there were significant advancements she helped achieve for the medical field. Rebecca and Deborah, two women of very different backgrounds working together to portray the life and contributions of Henrietta Lack.

Rebecca has always been very interested in Henrietta’s life and she wants to write a story of her own. She reaches out to Deborah to write a book about Henrietta. As she continues to meet with Deborah it leads to many connections and a lot of research. Looking ahead, Rebecca becomes focused on telling the real story. Rebecca is more interested in letting the world know everything Henrietta and the Lacks family had to endure throughout the years.

The main similarity in the book is how driven both Deborah and Rebecca are to find more information about Henrietta. Deborah says, ‘All this stuff I’m learning,’ she said, ‘it makes me realize that I did have a mother, and all the tragedy she went through.

It hurts but I wanna know more, just like I wanna know about my sister. It makes me feel closer to them, but I do miss them. I wish they were here.’ (Skloot 288). No matter what challenges they encountered or knowing the potential consequences that could occur they persevered down the path. They went on a journey and no one could get in their way. Deborah wanted closure, she thought it wasn’t fair that white scientists knew more about her own mother than she ever did. Rebecca’s determination is reflected in her words, “As I worked my way through graduate school studying writing, I became fixated on the idea of someday telling Henrietta’s story. At one point I even called directory assistance in Baltimore looking for Henrietta’s husband, David Lacks, but he wasn’t listed”. (Skloot 6). With Rebecca’s determination she was able to find Deborah and interviewed her to eventually write the story that is known as the Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks.

There was racial discrimination, abuse, lack of medical knowledge, poverty, suffering and unknown information that was kept from the family about one of their own loved ones. Deborah and Rebecca went through many struggles which shows how dedicated they were to have Henrietta be recognized for all the suffrage she gave up for science. When writing a book that uncovers someone’s life like Henrietta’s you open a world that comes with much tragedy and sorrow, “Deborah was ten years old, Galen would grab Deborah in the backseat, forcing his hands under her shirt, in her pants, between her legs.” (Skloot 113). Deborah’s childhood was not easy. She grew up without a father figure, and the lack of attention took a big toll on her life. Somehow she always felt closer to her cousin, Galen, then she ever did towards her real dad, Day. Galen showered her with gifts and attention. He bought her outfits and went out for ice cream, Deborah being so young and innocent she didn’t realize that this was the beginning and she would later become sexually abused by Galen. She had little to no idea what sex was until Bobetta explained how wrong it is. ” Deborah cried the whole way home to Bobbette and Lawrence’s house, blood dripping from her split eyebrow, then leaped from the car and ran through the house, straight into the closet where she hid when she was upset.”(Skloot 115). After Henrietta passed away, her children are left wondering what happened to their mother, who loved and cared for them. They were now forced to grow up with Henrietta’s cousins Ethel and Galen, who would mentally and physically abuse them. Nowadays these actions would not be accepted, back then this was allowed and many young girls suffered from sexual abuse. Deborah couldn’t speak up because Galen was family, and she was so young that she wasn’t able to fully comprehend what was going on.

The final difference noted between Rebecca and Deborah is trust. Rebecca stays loyal to Deborah through the whole process of writing the book. However, Deborah struggles with trusting Rebecca as a result of everyone lying to her about her mother. This very quote represents the strong emotions Deborah is feeling as she says, “Who are you working for? John Hopkins? Who sent you? Who’s paying you?” (Skloot 283). Throughout the book Deborah keeps questioning Rebecca’s loyalty, while wondering if she will ever find someone that is just as devoted as she is to finding out information about her mother. When she meets Rebecca she doesn’t think it could be true, someone who wants to find more information about her mother without taking any money or blood from her. Rebecca wanted to put Henrietta’s daughter, Elise’s autopsy report in the book, Deborah was not happy and she started to question Rebecca’s motives. The next quote captures the frustration that Deborah is feeling, with hatred she screams, “What were you gonna do with my mother’s medical records?!” (Skloot 239).

Deborah snapped at Rebecca, she started to put off talking to her because she thinks that she is going to use her the information to make money from the Lacks family. Rebecca is scared that Deborah might never talk to her again. She wants to learn more about Henrietta and eventually agrees to meet up again to tell her story. Rebecca says, “ I’m not trying to do anything bad, I just want to learn your mother’s story, same as you.” (Skloot 240). The whole time Rebecca didn’t mean any harm as she tries to prove her loyalty to Deborah. Unlike Cofield, who claims he was a “lawyer” and “ doctor” that wanted to help Deborah get the word out about Henrietta, however he was an insane man who wanted to take money from the Lacks family. Deborah doesn’t trust that anyone really wants to help her get the closure she deserves about her mother. Rebecca is a very strong and faithful woman, she wants nothing more than to have all of Deborah’s lingering questions answered.

Through all the ups and downs and all of Deborah’s outbreaks in anger, she stuck by her side. Eventually, she published the book and made Deborah’s wishes come true. Although Rebecca and Deborah had very different socioeconomic backgrounds, they were able to bond together to depict the life of Henrietta Lack. Both Rebecca and Deborah were driven to find out more about Henrietta’s life, and the impact her cells provided over the past 100 years. Their combined efforts have resulted in the story of a medical hero.

The book that I have chosen to read for my book assignment is ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rebecca Sklott. The first word that comes to mind when I think of after reading this novel is deceived. I think about that when reading how the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore deceived Henrietta Lacks by profiting off her tissue sample. The story began talking about an African American woman, Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells were used for experimentation to create an immortal cell line. In 1951, Henrietta went to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to do a check-up on her cervix. Later after she was treated, the doctor diagnosed her with cervical cancer. After being treated for her tumor, during the procedure, a substantial amount of her tissue that was removed had been taken. I say taken because Henrietta did not consent to anyone to have her tissue cells grown inside some tubes in a laboratory. The head of the tissue department at the hospital, George Grey, without consent had begun experimenting on the newly acquired tissue cell and had a breakthrough. After years of experimenting to have cells divide continuously and infinitely, they had their one. Henrietta who was battling the cancer was not even informed after the breakthrough had happened. After the trials of radiation and treatments, Henrietta died at a young age. She left behind a husband and five children who were poor and uninvolved with the community. A tragedy it was but her name was to become famous even though she had passed away. The family was never informed of the breakthrough in the science lab even after she died which raised questions. From a reader perspective the first thing that came in my head was the hospital only wanted to profit off the cells. None of the money gained was ever given to the family who was going through a rough patch when Henrietta died. One of the daughters encountered Henrietta’s cells which were called HeLa cells at the National Cancer Institute. This was such a turning point in the story because the family finally found out about cells that were still alive which belongs to Henrietta. The feelings felt were definitely exploited because the hospital was profiting from their mother’s cells while they were still living a poor lifestyle and could not afford any medical insurance. This is unethical and atrocious because the family was deprived of any financial gains and the truth of Henrietta. After years of inexistence to the success of the first immortal human cell line, Henrietta was finally recognized. Rebecca Skloot was able to help Deborah Lacks to identify her mother and how her cells were able to lead to medical breakthroughs. This woman’s silent impact was able to change the lives of many and medical treatments forever.

One related legal topic that we discussed in class that also relates to this situation is certain rights to certain health care. As a consumer, we have the right to informed consent and patient self-determination. Henrietta Lacks was denied that right when her cancer cells were used for experimentation without being informed. This led to the creation of the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) which protects the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information. This bill was a revolutionizing bill that brought new privacy standards, security standards, and fraud provisions. As world-changing, the cancer cells were the hospital can be viewed as a fraud for stealing. They went out to acknowledge the findings as their own without giving any type of credit to the victim. Any type of recognition could have ultimately helped the family to get out of poverty and have a chance at having a life. The hospital took in all of the profits without contributing anything. In 1951 if HIPPA was enacted then none of those cells could have been taken if there were rules that prevented a doctor to take them. These scientists should be labeled as criminals for their actions because if this law was enacted back then, they could have easily been convicted for ‘inappropriate access’. It could have held the violators accountable for breaches through enhanced civil and criminal penalties. In today’s age, it is legal to use someone’s organs for scientific purposes, but they also have the right to deny any access. Although scientific research increases and improves care it still does not give the right to access the patient’s cells.

Another legal topic discussed in class that relates to the family not being able to afford healthcare coverage is EMTALA. This bill says, “the increasing number of reports that hospital emergency rooms are refusing to accept or treat patients with emergency conditions if the patient does not have medical insurance”. The book described how the family of Henrietta Lacks struggled with affording any medical coverage. If they were in an emergency situation that required medical assistance, they were not able to get taken care of. This law was put in place to protect the indigent and women in active labor. If this was enacted in 1951, everyone would have been eligible for the appropriate medical screening exams that were necessary for stabilization.

I found this story to be inspirational because Henrietta Lacks was finally recognized for being the focal point of the many medical discoveries of our time period. Laws were not legislated at the time unfortunately to help people like Henrietta, but they were enacted later on. She set the stone for laws like HIPPA AND EMTALA to be made to prevent anything like this to happen ever again. I felt a connection to the family with how unfair it was for them and not getting treated equally in their community. They deserved better and should have been acknowledged for the unethical act John Hopkins committed.

Introduction

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) is considered one of the greatest artists in history, and is also an inventor, scientist. (Pevsner, 2002). Hence, he had a profound impact on the development of the arts and sciences. For example, in the field of art, he left the classic paintings such as Mona Lisa, The Last Supper; in the field of science, he invented a large number of mechanical structures, leaving a lot of manuscripts for anatomy. In fact, Leonardo Da Vinci is also regarded as an engineer from his contributions in science and the curiosity and the ultimate spirit in his whole life, made him coincide with the purpose of engineering which is to invent creativity and explore new knowledge. As the same time, Leonardo is also meet the definition of an engineer. According to Cambridge Dictionary (n.d.), the meaning of “Engineer” is “A person whose job is to design or build machines engines, or electrical equipment, or things such as roads, railways, or bridges, using scientific principles”. The purpose of this essay is analyzing Da Vinci’s contribution to the engineering profession in those specific areas, which includes anatomy, flight, war, and manufacturing.

Contribution on the anatomy

According to O’Callaghan (2012), the efforts of Leonardo on anatomy shows the true spirit of science, and cannot simply be understood as a service to the art. Da Vinci has studied almost the entire structure of the human body, from skeletal scaffolds to nerve endings. Taking Da Vinci’s manuscript of the brain as an example, discussing Da Vinci’s drawing work, the relevant challenges at the time and the contribution to explain contemporary biological engineering are necessary.

Leonardo da Vinci’s manuscripts are considered to be another art, even if they are portrayed as knowledge of natural sciences. Every manuscript is extremely detailed, and truth is the scientific spirit that can be most directly felt when watching his manuscript. According to Pevsner (2002)，a series of 1489 skull drawings by Leonardo da Vinci was discovered as the earliest existing neuroanatomical study. Da Vinci showed an admirable drawing spirit in the production of drawings, which is worthy of worship by future generations. For example, in the hands shown in his paper, Da Vinci accurately depicts the anterior and posterior arteries, veins, and anterior, middle, and posterior skulls of the meninges, and even contains the visual, auditory, and other brain nerves. It is hard to imagine how Da Vinci could have described these details with such precision. One of Da Vinci’s challenges was not being able to dissect enough corpses and to store them for longer periods of time. For religious reasons, accessing to cadavers is far less easy, and even in today’s medical research, it remains a challenge. Da Vinci can almost be called the originator of anatomy, and the anatomical drawings he draws are almost the same as those scanned by modern medical equipment. Da Vinci’s anatomical efforts let humans begin to understand themselves and science, rather than simply praying for God’s blessing, or using crude medical methods such as bloodletting. He also shaped beliefs in science for later scientists.

Contribution on the flight

Da Vinci came up with the idea of a flying machine in the study of birds. This research, called the ‘ Codex on the Flight of Birds,’ contained the original idea of an aircraft, four centuries earlier than the Wright brothers. (Gan, 2013). Da Vinci’s vision of the aircraft also undoubtedly exceeded the limits of that era. He thinks there is something that can fly in the sky powered by two wings. The idea may seem simple, but Da Vinci still spends a lot of time studying why birds can fly. According to description of Richardson (2017), Da Vinci described the detail in his manuscript E which showed how birds can fly in the crosswind. And he mentioned that a piece of description of Da Vinci “Birds always fly low when the course of the wind is contrary to their path and this teaches us how the wind is more powerful at a height than low down” in this note. This simple idea and research are crucial, because all subsequent concepts about space and flight are derived from this simple idea. As Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano said on the International Space Station, “One can draw an imaginary line from the genius of the Renaissance, who dreamed about human flight by studying the flights of birds, to the research that led us to space, and gives us hopes to go to farther destinations.” (From da Vinci to voyager, 2014)

Contribution on the war

Da Vinci was not a war mad, on the contrary was a peace lover. He thought the war was ‘ beastly madness’. He just promised the sponsors to imagine, make war weapons, and various strategic facilities. But apparently, he was happy with new innovations. Most of his weapons of war were amazing and have never seen it before, even just being as thoughts. For example,

References

1. ENGINEER: meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/engineer
2. Pevsner, J. (2002, June 3). Leonardo da Vinci’s contributions to neuroscience. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166223600021214
3. Rai, Rabjot, Marios Loukas, and R Shane Tubbs. “Leonardo Da Vinci and His Contribution to Our Understanding of the Lumbosacral Plexus.” Child’s nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery 35.11 (2019): 2021–2022. Web.
4. Ocallaghan, T. (2012). Leonardo da Vincis intricate anatomy. New Scientist, 214(2863), 43. doi: 10.1016/s0262-4079(12)61179-8
5. Gan, V. (2013, September). Flight of fancy. Smithsonian, 44(5), 84. Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca/apps/doc/A344212148/AONE?u=wind05901&sid=AONE&xid=b2887c51
6. Richardson, P. (2017). Da Vinci’s observations of soaring birds. Physics Today, 70(11), 78–79. https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.3773
7. From da Vinci to voyager. (2014, January). Aviation History, 24(3), 12. Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca/apps/doc/A349720054/CPI?u=wind05901&sid=CPI&xid=8839b653

Biomedical science is a fast paced and constantly developing field of biological analysis in the healthcare sector with long term career prospects, biomedical science involves carrying out investigations on samples of human tissue and body fluid in order to diagnose disease and correctly monitor the treatment of patients that have been affected by disease. With over 55,000 registered healthcare scientists in 51 different disciplines work in areas such as biomedical science makes up for 5% of the National Health Services workforce budget (Evered, 2010)

Role of a Biomedical Scientist

Biomedical scientists work in healthcare laboratories diagnosing diseases and evaluating the effectiveness of treatment by analyzing fluids and tissue samples from patients. They provide the ‘engine room’ of modern medicine – 70% of diagnoses in the NHS are based on pathology results provided by laboratory services. Handling over 150 million samples in the UK each year, every person at some point in their lives will benefit from the services of a biomedical scientist.

What Makes Biomedical Science Such a Fascinating and Rewarding Career?

It could be the personal satisfaction of using your scientific and detective skills to investigate disease to help your medical colleagues save the life of a patient. Or, it could be the diversity of an interesting and rewarding career with a range of opportunities for personal and career development. Modern biomedical science is a fast changing, dynamic and complex science that requires accuracy, efficiency and attention to detail.

Biomedical scientists are at the heart of multi-disciplinary teams in healthcare. They provide other professionals with vital scientific information, allowing them to make informed clinical decisions, ensuring blood stocks are adequate at critical times, matching blood to patients, measuring chemicals to monitor patient condition, investigating disease by looking at tumor samples and identifying micro-organisms in the fight against infection.

What Other Roles Does the Profession of a Biological Scientist Include?

Biomedical scientist roles also include: cancer screening; identifying micro-organisms causing; outbreaks such as food poisoning; blood donation services; infection control; drug testing; AIDS and HIV diagnosis and treatment; rapid response labs for accident and; emergency; drug therapies; quality management; research; leadership; training.

The professional roles of a biomedical scientist can be portrayed by looking at the Health Profession’s Council’s ‘standards of conduct, performance and ethics’ literature, this provides strict guidelines on the expectations of Biomedical Scientists. Both in and out of their natural working environment, the document lists 14 points with a detailed summary of each one describing how registered professional of the Health Profession’s Council must act towards patients following such rules as, “acting in the best interest of service users and respecting the confidentiality of service users” (Health Profession’s Council Standards of Conduct Performance and Ethics, 2008). This document also describes how registrants must professionally enhance their skills in order to benefit patients, protecting them from the dangers of incorrect diagnosis/treatment, stating that “you must keep your professional knowledge and skills up to date and you must act within the limits of your knowledge, skills and experience, and, if necessary, refer the matter to another practitioner”.

The international regulating body that the United Kingdom is based within is known as the ‘World Health Organization’; this is “the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends” (World Health Organization, 2010).

Biomedical scientists can go on to build on their knowledge with master’s degrees, doctorates and professional qualifications. These optional qualifications help to develop advanced specialist skills to adopt senior roles and responsibilities. Consultant biomedical scientists are those with the highest qualifications and expertise, reaching the top of their profession. Biomedical scientists can also register professionally with the Science Council, which sets the standards for professional scientists in the UK and is internationally recognized as the benchmark for quality and excellence. Professional registration for biomedical scientists can be as a Registered Science Technician RSciTech, Registered Scientist RSci, or Chartered Scientist CSci.

Biomedical scientists dedicated to the research side of the profession are continually looking for new and innovative treatment methods that would improve our knowledge of the relevant subject area and ultimately allow us to find new ways of treating or curing disease.

Biomedical scientists working in the development side of the profession are involved in searching for the most cutting-edge techniques that can hopefully aid the healthcare sector in obtaining faster and more accurate results for patients whilst also aiding in the enhancement of drug’s used for treatment, allowing a faster and more concise experience for service users whilst improving quality of life.

In order to ensure that diagnosis and treatment is as accurate as it can possibly be, diagnostic laboratories have a standard quality assurance/quality control procedure in place, this involves looking over samples at least twice, and checking that the patient’s sample and information is correct before giving feedback on the issue to the patient’s doctor or whomever is acting up on the results of the patient (Health Profession’s Council, 2010).

It is important for biomedical scientists to keep up to date on the latest techniques and analysis procedures when working in the health sector, this comes under the title of ‘continuing professional development’ (CPD), every time a registrant renews their registration, they must confirm that they have met the criteria of CPD, if a registrant is selected for audit by the Health Profession’s Council, they must provide evidence of CPD.

Career Opportunities

Biomedical science offers a fantastic variety of exciting career opportunities with excellent promotion prospects including: specialist laboratory work, expert and consultant roles, research, education and management. Many biomedical scientists work for the NHS or private sector. Their modern laboratories are the hi-tech hubs of hospitals and at the cutting edge of healthcare. But if working in a general hospital laboratory isn’t for you, there are lots of other avenues to explore including: teaching, drug testing, medicine, blood donation, veterinary diagnostics, food safety, the brewing industry, cancer screening, the armed forces, pharmaceutical research, journalism, sales and marketing, government advisory and many more. Alternatively, you may decide to follow a career in research, forensic science or one of the other disciplines allied to the biomedical sciences. If travelling is your thing, you can use your training and skills in healthcare posts and projects around the world.

Biomedical scientists are highly sought after for international healthcare projects in hospitals, schools and universities. You may want to become involved in voluntary work in developing countries on behalf of international bodies such as the World Health Organization or the Voluntary Service Overseas. For a varied and physically demanding career, the armed forces offer biomedical scientists the chance to use a variety of skills and apply them to different scenarios and settings around the world. From setting up field hospitals to deal with the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone to working on a battleship off the coast of Bahrain, you’ll support medical teams across the armed forces with an essential clinical laboratory service. Like any profession, you can get involved in professional activities where you can develop skills in media, politics, organizing events and discussion groups, networking and professional representation and roles.

Reference

1. https://www.ibms.org/resources/documents/the-science-at-the-heart-of-healthcare/

Biomedical science involves using a range of laboratory techniques to diagnose and find treatments for various diseases. In this essay we will focus on the role that biomedical science plays in diagnosing various types of cancers. The different approaches in biomedical cancer diagnosis that will be covered are: biomarkers (i.e., miRNA), biopsies (i.e., liquid biopsies), blood tests and histology image analysis.

Biomarkers are found in blood, tissues as well as other fluids in the body. These are biological molecules that can be used identify complications and diseases that arise in the body, these can be both abnormal and normal. There are two functions of biomarkers: for exposure and diagnosis of diseases. Cancer biomarkers are essential for diagnosing the presence of cancer, they do this by detecting molecules that are being secreted by cancerous tumors as well as a response that the body makes due to the presence of the disease. An example of a cancer biomarker is miRNA. miRNAs are regulators of gene expression and therefore can be compared to with the progression of cancer, this biomarker detects cancerous molecules on a genetic level, through its gene expression. Gene expression is regulated by miRNA, this can closely be linked with the staging of cancer diagnosis as it has been found by Dr Rosenfeld that scientists are able to locate the origin for cancers that had an unknown primary origin by using miRNA expression and profiling (B. Mansoori et al., 2010). The use of miRNA as a biomarker can be applied to cancer diagnosis as it can differentiate between normal and malignant tissues and the subtypes of a specific cancer, through a genetic approach on the regulation of gene expression controlled by miRNA. Expressed miRNA profiles have modified and altered a vast range of human cancers in comparison to its corresponding normal tissues and subtypes of a specific type of cancer. For example, in the brain high levels of miR-21 was expressed in the glioblastoma whereas on the contrary a low basal level in normal brain cells (Chan JA et al., 2005). This indicates that the miR-21 can be used as a diagnostic marker for the glioblastoma in aiding scientists to find the point in which genes were not expressed correctly. Focusing on the expression of genes can assist scientist identify trends and patterns in regards of the changes that is made when the genes are being expressed. This provides scientists with the ability identify similar genes for a specific type of cancer and its subtypes and how these genes differ amongst the different subtypes of a cancer or the severity of a particular cancer in the diagnostic stages.

Biomarkers can be used with biopsies tests such as a liquid biopsy to diagnose and detect cancer. A biopsy can help scientists tell where the cancer first originated and the specific type of cancer. Liquid biopsies involve sampling and analyzing non-solid biological components such as DNA found in the blood extracted from tumors. When cancer is detected at an earlier stage, there is an increase in survival rates in patients. Therefore, it is important to diagnose cancer at an early stage but accurately. The way in which liquid biopsies helps improve accuracy is through the method of extracting blood directly from the site of the tumor, by doing so there is a higher chance that cancerous molecules can be identified when being examined making the outcome diagnosis results more precise. Using both biopsies with biomarkers helps identify where the change in the gene occurred due to the protein marker that is attached to the DNA in the blood plasma sample. In a study circulating tumor DNA was used as a liquid biopsy, where cfDNA was used as the diagnostic biomarker tool. It was found that patients with higher quantities cfDNA counts in their blood displayed the presence of cancer and this molecule was more present in cancer patients (Sozzi et al., 2003). An advantage for using this quantitative method is that both progression and potential recurrence of the disease can be told in diagnosis when identifying the surrogate molecules that indicate cancer. Whereas as mentioned before the miRNA biomarker focuses heavily on changes of the genome, liquid biopsies on the other hand are more applicable to a wider range of patients and individuals as it does not rely on genetic changes but more so on the cancerous content present in blood samples. More advantages of using these methods together: 1) results are obtained faster and in a less invasive manner; 2) not only can it tell where the cancer originated from, but it can help grade the cancer by being able to tell the severity of the cancer at the early diagnosis stage.

Other blood tests can help scientists see different molecules to diagnose cancer such as the high levels of the antigen CA-125 looked for in ovarian cancer patients. Other molecules that can be detected in blood for cancer diagnostic which includes hormones and antibodies however high levels of molecules such as CA-125 cannot tell doctors for certain for the presence of ovarian cancers, therefore other tests can also be taken. Despite extracting substances from patients creating different types of images to see the histological structures that is associated with cancer is another tool used for cancer diagnosis. Biomedical scientists use different forms of imaging such as histology image analysis for carcinoma diagnosis and classification. Histology image analysis a computer aided method has replaced ordinary histology images produced. This makes it more accurate in diagnosing cancer as the quality of the structures that are being seen making it easier for scientists to interpret the structures of the healthy and malignant tissues. Through the staining, different structures are seen under the microscope and the images being made from a low magnification, this in which helps analyze specimen at tissue level making it easier for scientist to grade and classify the cancer.

Biomedical science plays a crucial role in the diagnosis of cancer through different methods of diagnostic. This essay has shown how biomedical science helps aid in not only detecting cancers but grading and classifying them by finding where the origin of the cancer through biological markers, samples, and imaging in the process of diagnosis. Although methods such as histology image analysis being a continuous promising tool for carcinoma diagnosis using the method alone can have limitations as in lung cancer different histological structures that have a mixture of cells in the same tumor, makes it difficult to differentiate the structures on a molecular level by, i.e., gene expression picked up by the miRNA biomarker. Using sample analysis and imaging can not only help see how the physiological structures differ when they are malignant but also through sampling, they tell biomedical scientists what is going on molecularly and why. Making these approaches not only a crucial tool for diagnosis but also the depth of the diagnosis which improves treatment options when specific cancer subtypes are identified and graded making it play an important role in carcinoma diagnosis.