Special eyewear for cancer surgeons
Innovation helps surgeons “see” cancerous cells during surgery
Don the eyewear before you pick up the scalpel. That may just be the surgical protocol of the future as high-tech glasses are now helping surgeons to see cancerous cells better during surgery.
The eyewear is being developed by Dr Samuel Achilefu, Professor of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, US. It enhances the visualisation capabilities of surgeons, allowing them to distinguish cancer cells from healthy ones.
A fluorescent marker injected into the patient makes the cancer cells glow blue when they are inspected through the eyewear, which also comes with custom video technology and a head-mounted display.
Seeing things with new eyes makes it less likely that stray cancer cells will be left behind during surgery. Currently surgeons remove healthy tissue around the cancer site together with the tumour, and they check for the presence of cancer cells in a pathology lab. A follow-up surgical procedure is required if these are found in the neighbouring tissue. The new eyewear may help to eliminate the need for additional surgery, as well as the pain, expense, time, and anxiety for the patient that accompany it.
The eyewear was used in the operating theatre at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine for the first time in February this year. It has since been tested on patients with breast cancer and melanoma as well. Aside from a patent for the technology, Dr Achilefu is currently seeking approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a different molecular agent that can be used with the glasses. This will target cancer cells more specifically and remain in them longer. “Our goal is to make sure no cancer is left behind,” Dr Achilefu said in a press release from the Washington University School of Medicine.
Further links:
Wustl.edu
Barnesjewish.org
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