This pen can detect cancer

27 Jan 2016
University of Washington

A miniature microscope that can "see" cancerous cells and tell surgeons where to stop cutting tissue has been developed by researchers at the University of Washington.

The microscope, as small as a pen, could help brain surgeons more accurately remove cancerous cells, preventing further neurological damaging. The device would allow surgeons to quickly check if tissue was cancerous, something that isn't currently possible. "Surgeons don't have a very good way of knowing when they're done cutting out a tumour," said Jonathan Liu, senior author of the study. "They're using their sense of sight, touch, pre-operative images of the brain, and sometimes it's pretty subjective."

The real-time microscope images (left) illuminate similar details in mouse tissues as the images (right) produced during an expensive, multi-day process at a clinical pathology lab

University of Washington

"Being able to zoom and see at the cellular level during the surgery would really help them accurately differentiate between tumour and normal tissues, and improve patient outcomes."

The pen could be used in a variety of scenarios -- researchers suggest one use of the pen would be by dentists who often remove benign tumours from patients. It's a process that "subjects patients to an invasive procedure and overburdens pathology labs". The pen would mean this process could be eliminated for many patients with normal or benign tumours.

The pen uses "dual-axis confocal microscopy" to illuminate opaque tissue, capturing images up to half a millimeter beneath the surface. "Trying to see beneath the surface of tissue is like trying to drive in a thick fog with your high beams on -- you can't see much," explained Liu. It also uses a technique called line-scanning, which scans tissue line by line to build up a complex image.

Researchers hope the pen will be used to detect and screen for cancer, as well as being introduced into surgeries or clinical procedures.