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Surgeons laser differentiate cancerous brain tissue
Around half a million people in Germany receive the diagnosis every year: cancer. Usually followed by surgery, radiation and / or chemotherapy. The operation of a brain tumor is considered particularly sensitive. Sick tissue must first be identified from samples in the laboratory. As a result, a lot of time passes. A new laser technology could make this superfluous in the future.
Doctors can see where they need to cut in seconds
For the first time, surgeons in Europe have treated a patient with a new laser technology that distinguishes cancerous from healthy tissue during brain tumor surgery. As the news agency dpa reports, the London physicians were able to detect in seconds, based on the reflection of the rays, where the brain is affected by cancer. They know immediately where they have to cut. In previous methods, tissue samples must be examined in the laboratory during surgery. The new technology eliminates this.
The treatment of brain tumors could be significantly improved by laser technology. (Image: sudok1 / fotolia.com) Intelligent scalpel recognizes diseased tissue
"That gives us an obvious speed advantage," said neurosurgeon Babar Vaqas to the BBC. The physician led the experiment at Charing Cross Hospital. According to the English broadcaster, this method was otherwise tested only in the Canadian Montreal. According to the report, the patient, a 22-year-old physicist who does his own laser research, recovers well. The doctors used another method that is still relatively new in the procedure on the brain: they used a so-called "iKnife", an intelligent surgical knife that detects diseased tissue. The scalpel produces smoke when cut, which is immediately analyzed by a machine and provides information about changes in the tissue. Researchers around the Hungarian Zoltán Takáts from Imperial College in London had already presented the technique two years ago in the journal "Science Translational Medicine". At that time it was referred to the high costs. Accordingly, the prototype of the "iKnife" cost around 300,000 euros. However, the scientists expressed the hope that the price could fall in the production of larger quantities.
"Giant advantage "through new methods
Martina Schnölzer from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg considers the new methods to be sensible. She explained: "Diseased and healthy tissues have different signatures." And further: "These may be lipids or proteins that are more or less common in diseased tissue." The laser technique and the "iKnife" relied on these differences. It was fascinating that the analysis would be done in real time, whereas traditional methods would take time: "That's a huge advantage." In addition, it's good to be able to use the two methods in parallel and compare the results. According to the London doctors, it is important, especially for operations on the brain, to remove only diseased tissue, because otherwise the procedure may have serious consequences for the patient. Since the examination of the naked brain with focused light is non-invasive, it does not have to be cut into the tissue either. To analyze the light reflection, the so-called Raman spectroscopy is used. This one serves the investigation of material properties, among other things also works of art. (Ad)