Cancer tissue is quickly detected by new invention 

Cancer tissue is

The University of Texas at Austin has designed a tool that can quickly and accurately detect cancerous tissue.

Within 10 seconds, the device, which looks like a pen, can diagnose. For example, surgeons know what tissue they need to remove and what should be retained. That is what De Volkskrant writes on Thursday, based on the scientific journal Science Translational Medicine Wednesday.

This technology can remove all unhealthy tissue, which improves prognosis and survival opportunities. It also reduces the chance of healthy tissue removal, as is the case, for example, in breast cancer surgery. The patients, therefore, suffer from pain and nerve damage.

The current method used, called Frozen Section Analysis, is not always as accurate. It often takes more than thirty minutes before a sample of tissue can be analyzed, which increases the risk of infection.

Accurate

In tests, where tissue was removed from 253 cancer patients, the MasSpec Pen managed to diagnose within 10 seconds and this result was accurate in 96 percent of cases. Also, the tool could detect cancer in areas where both healthy and cancerous tissues were found.

By 2018, the MasSpec Pen will be further tested during oncological surgery. According to the researchers involved in the project, operations made more accurate, safer and faster by the invention.