New Endoscope Technology for 'Molecular-Guided' Cancer Surgery

Endoscopic procedures are frequently done on patients to diagnose and treat a wide variety of diseases. Current research, led by Dr. Zhen Cheng at Stanford University, supports a new version of the flexible endoscope to help surgeons more completely remove cancerous tumors. This new technology combines existing endoscope technology with the same process that accounts for the soft blue glow in the cooling water of the core of nuclear power reactors. This glow results from interactions of invisible particles of the nuclear reaction speeding through the water faster than the speed of light. Combing this nuclear reactor technology with newly developed Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging technology leads to a new imaging technology called Cerenkov Luminescence Endoscopy (CLE). CLE is more advanced than existing imaging technologies, such as MRI, because it reveals information about the functionality of the tissue.

Emerging Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging has been able to provide images of organs and guide surgery in laboratory animals to help surgeons remove cancer cells that would have otherwise been invisible and left behind. Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging also improves the resolution of PET scans and allows for detection of smaller objects. Cerenkov Luminescence Endoscopy is an important up and coming medical imaging technology because it allows surgeons to get close enough to the diseased tissue to be able to take advantage of the Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging technology. It should transition easily from the laboratory to clinical use due to its compatibility with existing endoscopic imaging requirements. This research is currently being funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Canary Foundation, the Center for Biomedical Imaging at Stanford, and the Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test.

New Endoscope Technology Paves the Way for 'Molecular-Guided Surgery' for Cancer