(U.S. Army photo)
(STUDY FINDS) – Biopsies are a great tool for cancer screenings but it can take days to know the results. Researchers from Columbia University propose an alternative tool that is expected to speed up the rate of diagnosis and potentially improve treatments. MediSCAPE is a high-speed 3D microscope that is capable of imaging tissue structures in real-time.
Biopsies require doctors to cut out a small piece of tissue which is then stained with dyes and viewed by a pathologist using a simple microscope. But with MediSCAPE, imaging takes place inside the body and would also remove the need to remove tissues and wait for lab testing to be completed.
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“Such a technology could give a doctor real-time feedback about what type of tissue they are looking at without the long wait,” says senior author Elizabeth Hillman, a professor of biomedical engineering and radiology at Columbia, in a statement. “This instant answer would let them make informed decisions about how best to cut out a tumor and ensure there is none left behind.”
