New Pen Can Identify Cancer in 10 Seconds

Photo credit: Vivian Abagiu/Univ. of Texas at Austin

A new pen-sized mass spectrometry device has been developed by scientists at the University of Texas at Austin that can identify cancerous tissue in roughly 10 seconds. The advent of this tool not only makes surgeries faster and easier, it also makes them safer by reducing the amount of time a patient is under anesthesia and reducing the side-effects caused when healthy tissue is accidentally removed.

Healthline.com recently interviewed Dr. Anton Bilchik to get his opinion on this new device and to get further insight into the intricacies of removing cancer during surgery.

“For example, colon cancer can be easily seen by the surgeon. The procedure is well-established. Surgical margins can be determined by visualization. There’s no need to do a frozen section and there’s certainly no use for the MasSpec Pen in those kinds of surgeries,” he explained.

“In other cancers, such as pancreatic, stomach, or breast cancer, it’s more difficult for the surgeon to determine simply by looking at tissue itself,” he added.

To get further details on how the technology works and to hear additional thoughts by Dr. Anton Bilchik about this new invention, please visit:

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/cancer-pen-could-make-tumor-surgery-easier-more-accurate