Glowing cells and a camera will help surgeons remove a cancerous tumor before it is finished
Researchers have developed a method to separate cancer cells from healthy cells during surgery.Researchers at Mass General Brigham Hospital have developed an imaging tool to distinguish tumor tissue from healthy tissue for different types of cancer. The technology combines high-speed cameras and fluorescence injection. Testing on samples from different types of neoplasms has confirmed the effectiveness of the method.
Fluorescence imaging uses dyes to target cancer-specific molecules. But standard imaging methods are limited in their accuracy in identifying tumor boundaries. The expression of illuminated molecules is not limited to the tumor and can extend into neighboring cells.
Instead of relying on dyes alone, researchers at Mass General Brigham developed a method that uses high-speed cameras to detect changes in the properties of light emitted by tissue. The researchers injected indocyanine green (ICG) into the tissue at least one day before surgery.
By analyzing data from more than 60 patients with different types of cancer, the scientists showed that they could detect a shift in fluorescence at the cellular level that was consistent across tumor types and across multiple patients. This method also allowed them to distinguish benign lymph nodes from metastatic lymph nodes.
Overall, the accuracy in distinguishing tumor tissue from healthy tissue was more than 97%. The researchers are planning a large-scale clinical trial for regulatory approval of the method.
Removing a patient's tumor while preserving healthy tissue requires exceptional accuracy, but surgeons often have to rely solely on their eyes and hands to determine where to cut. Many technologies have been used to improve visualization during surgery, including fluorescence imaging and advanced microscopy. But they are not yet widespread, and are limited to specific types or subtypes of cancer.