A new optical sensor capable of differentiating the margins between cancerous and healthy tissue has shown to be effective in clinical study on 35 women with breast cancer. The Foresee Imaging System from Diagnostic Photonics, borrows technology, called interferometric synthetic aperture microscopy, developed at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, to effectively see where a tumor’s outlines are. The technology may lead to faster, more confident tumor resections with fewer trips to the pathology lab to review samples.
Interferometric synthetic aperture microscopy relies on a computer to algorithmically correct the diffraction produced by tissue as light travels within it. An optical coherence tomography probe delivers light into the area to be analyzed, capturing the returning light, and using novel software algorithms to analyze it. In order to provide surgeons real-time visualization of the tissue below the probe, an impressive computer in the background runs the power hungry algorithms that require crunching.
From the study abstract in journal Cancer Research:
The image results from OCT showed structural differences between normal and cancerous tissue within the resection bed following WLE of the human breast. The ex vivo images were compared with standard postoperative histopathology to yield sensitivity of 91.7% [95% confidence interval (CI), 62.5%–100%] and specificity of 92.1% (95% CI, 78.4%–98%). This study demonstrates in vivo OCT imaging of the resection bed during WLE with the potential for real-time microscopic image-guided surgery.
Study in journal Cancer Research: Real-time Imaging of the Resection Bed Using a Handheld Probe to Reduce Incidence of Microscopic Positive Margins in Cancer Surgery…
Link: Diagnostic Photonics…
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