A new tool developed by a UF researcher could revolutionize cancer treatment and allow for much earlier detection of tumors.
Endoscopes are a common tool used in the detection of cancer. A camera affixed to a long, thin tube allows doctors to see abnormal growths on the surface of internal organs.
Huikai Xie created a “scanning micro-endoscope” by replacing the camera with an infrared scanner that allows a doctor to “see” beneath an organ’s surface tissue.
“It’s a technology which can see through tissue, so it can see depths of information, not just the surface,” he said.
While traditional endoscopes give a view of an organ’s surface tissue, doctors can’t see how deep or exactly how big the growth is, making biopsies inexact, unnecessarily random and often dangerous when performed on vital organs, Xie said.
Biopsies can cause internal bleeding and trauma to organs. They can also take several days to be processed by a lab to determine whether the tissue is cancerous or not, leaving a patient’s peace of mind hanging in the balance.
Once a growth is visible on the surface, Xie said it is likely the rest of the organ could fail.
Xie’s scanner allows doctors to look beneath the surface of the tissue before a cancerous growth is big enough to be seen.
By seeing through the tissue rather than just its surface, doctors can also determine the exact size and margins of a growth, taking the guesswork out of biopsies and eliminating the chance of over-cutting.
“Our organs are very valuable,” Xie said. “And today’s biopsies are not a good technique.”
Xie’s scanners have a resolution 10 times higher than the only other non-camera based endoscopes available, and one of his scanners can even produce a 360-degree image of the surrounding tissue.
Eventually, Xie said he hopes to be able to use his scanners not only in the detection of cancer cells but also in the surgical removal of tumors.
He is working to attach a cutting instrument to his scanners that would allow doctors to have a real-time view of areas undergoing surgery. While currently they rely mostly on still MRI- and CT-scanned images taken before the surgery.
This would be most beneficial in high-risk, precision operations, where over-cutting could lead to permanent damage, such as in brain surgery, Xie said.
If his project gets the funding it needs to continue in research and receives all the necessary FDA approvals, Xie said he expects his scanning micro-endoscopes could be on the medical market in two or three years.
He is already collaborating with doctors at Shands at UF to perfect his instruments and said they could be the first in the field to work with them.
