One of the biggest worries for patients undergoing cancer surgery is whether surgeons will miss some of the diseased tissue.That worry could be over with a new pencil-sized tool developed by scientists and engineers at the University of Texas at Austin, according to a study published on Wednesday .

The tool, dubbed the MasSpec Pen, allows surgeons removing a tumor to detect cancerous cells in tissues in seconds, allowing them to know immediately if they have found and removed all of the cancer.

Currently , it can take days to determine if the surgeons got every thing. What they miss could lead to a return of the cancer. The study in `Science Translational Medicine' said when the pen is touched to a tissue during surgery , it draws up small molecules to be analysed by a miniaturised mass spectrometer built inside the stylus. The pen can identify cancerous cells through distinct molecules called metabolites. That identifies any residual cancer, with a monitor linked to the pen declaring “normal“ or “cancer“.Tests on tissues removed from 253 human cancer patients showed the new tool was “more than 96% accurate“, according to the study.

 

Source web page: Times of India