New Imaging Technique Visualizes Cancer During Surgery

The multispectral fluorescence imaging system in an operating room.

A team of researchers in Munich, Germany has developed a new imaging technology using laser light to detect cancer based on molecular signatures. The technique has been successfully tested on patients with ovarian cancer. Before surgery, the patients were injected with folic acid chemically coupled to a green fluorescent dye. Most ovarian tumors have a protein molecule that bonds with folic acid and transports it inside the cell. The surgeon can then shine a laser light onto the patient's ovaries, causing the green-labeled folic acid inside the cancer cells to emit light.

The fluorescent cancer cells, however, cannot be detected by the naked eye. Three cameras mounted on a pivoting support arm over the operating table detect fluorescent signals at multiple spectral bands to provide fluorescence images that can be displayed on monitors in the operating room. The surgeon can check whether the cancer cells have been removed by inspecting for remnant fluorescence light.
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