Soft magnetoelastic microneedle patch for quick skin cancer screening
Official title: A soft magnetoelastic microneedle patch for rapid skin cancer screening
Funded at University of California Los Angeles · NIH-11299485 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will develop a soft, wearable microneedle patch that scans skin stiffness to help find skin cancer earlier in people with suspicious skin lesions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Los Angeles NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $351,039 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA287326-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11299485 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with new, changing, or otherwise suspicious moles or skin lesions, or those with a history of skin cancer, would be the most likely candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose tumors lie deeper than about 5 mm under the skin or people without any skin lesions are unlikely to benefit from this device.
What this research studies
Researchers are building a soft, wearable patch with tiny microneedles that uses magnetic sensing to map how stiff the skin is across a lesion, because stiffness differences can signal cancer. The device is designed to rapidly scan a few square centimeters, reach depths up to about 5 mm, and give high-resolution stiffness maps. The team will optimize the patch design for scalability, test performance in mouse models of skin cancer, and then validate findings on excised human skin samples. If those steps are successful, the patch could be moved toward clinical use for screening, monitoring changes over time, or helping guide excisions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could enable faster, non-invasive early detection and better monitoring or guidance for surgical removal of skin cancers.
How similar studies have gone: Tactile and stiffness-based approaches have shown promise in research, but this magnetic microneedle patch uses a new sensing mechanism and is largely novel and not yet tested in live patients.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chen, Jun — University of California Los Angeles
- Study coordinator: Chen, Jun
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.