Hand-Held Probe Finds Cancer During Surgery

Detection is vital to treating any type of cancer. However, it is sometimes difficult fur surgeons to know exactly where the cancer cells are. That makes it harder to destroy all the cancer cells and spare the healthy ones.

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal have developed a cancer detection system that can examine tiny bits of tissue - down to the width of just a few human hairs. The technology uses a combination of imaging methods to classify each cell as healthy or cancerous. The study used patients undergoing surgery for brain cancers that had spread. The results showed that the technique had near-perfect accuracy in these patients. The great results mean that the tool will continue to be tested in larger clinical trials.