Fluorescence imaging system lays groundwork for better tumor removal: Portable and easy-to-use NIR system provides quantitative tumor depth information

Researchers have developed a low-cost, simple imaging system that uses tumor-targeting fluorescent molecules to determine the depth of tumor cells in the body. The portable system could eventually help surgeons distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissue with higher precision when removing a tumor.

Doctors can use fluorescent molecules during tumor resection to make cancer cells light up so that the surgeon can see if any cancerous tissue remains. However, the equipment necessary for this technique isn’t widely accessible and typically doesn’t provide quantitative information about how deep within the tissue the cancer cells reside. Having access to depth information would help surgeons to remove a full healthy layer of tissue around the tumor, which has been shown to provide the best possible outcomes for patients.

“The few commercial systems that do provide quantitative depth information are large and expensive, limiting use outside of large medical centers,” said research team leader Christine M. O’Brien from Samuel Achilefu’s Lab at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Our group built upon prior work in this field to develop a low-cost, simple system that can quickly determine the depth of tumor cells using near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes.”

The researchers describe their new system in the Optica Publishing Group journal Biomedical Optics Express. The portable and easy-to-use system could be used in low-resource clinical centers, which could help minimize health disparities.

“Systems like this could be used in the future to improve surgical outcomes of patients undergoing tumor removal,” said O’Brien. “It would also prevent the need to wait for pathology results before confirming whether cancer cells are still present after tumor removal.”

Lighting up cancer

Research has shown that surgical treatments for cancer tend to be most successful if surgeons remove not only the tumor but also a healthy layer of tissue completely surrounding it. However, this can be difficult because it’s hard to pinpoint the margins between where the tumor ends and healthy tissue begins. In addition, the optimal thickness of the healthy layer depends on the tumor type and location.

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