Physical oncology represents a completely fresh approach to tackling cancer. Thus, the device has potential to provide useful insights about it.

"The device leaves the sample completely undamaged, which allows researchers to still perform other tests on it," said lead author Mark Harrison at University of Southern California.
Previous squishiness detectors required time-consuming alignment and were highly sensitive to environmental vibration. The new device uses fiber optics, taking a cue from the telecommunications industry.
The system squishes a sample on top of the optical fiber, changing the polarization of the laser inside in a predictable way that allows researchers to calculate the Young’s modulus.
"Instruments able to measure a material’s Young’s modulus already existed, but they’re large and require calibration each time they’re moved," said Andrea Armani, an associate professor at University of Southern California and corresponding author of the study.
"Our device could be carried from hospital room to hospital room and doesn’t need an engineer to operate it," Armani noted.
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The study was published in Applied Physics Letters.
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