Advanced Imaging Technique Developed By Cambridge Scientists To Aid In Cancer Detection

Not getting too emotional, statistically, WHO factsheet says 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer deaths occurred in the year 2012 which with a little speculation becomes someone from our immediate family, extended family, neighbors, friends has already suffered from this lethal group of diseases. As a matter of fact, any related research or development in medical science, chemical biology, and biotechnology ushers a new ray of hope to fight the constantly growing fear. Today we promise to cover another story involving Cancer detection where a research team comprising researchers from the University of Cambridge have unveiled a new imaging technique to detect and characterize early detection changes in gastrointestinal (GI) tract.


In the most suitable way, the technique is dependent on the conventional endoscopy method that comes packed with a set of high-end innovative camera filters. The add-on lets the instrument vary the number of colors which in turn improves the performance in detecting odd cells in the lining of the gut. While commenting on the project Dr. Sarah Bohndiek said, the current endoscopy an assembly of a white light source with corresponding detectors that reproduces our eyes' effort in distinguishing red, green and blue color channels with significant meaning.

The new technology dubbed as “hyperspectral imaging”(HSI) will now broaden the number of visible channels from 3 to 50. As you can guess, this will phenomenally improve the detection method as cell growth while under the spell of cancer is a site of colors. Having a proper instrument for detection will rejuvenate the early detection, one of the most important aspects of starting prosthesis. The HSI technology could also be improved to see beyond the visible spectrum. Further, it can highlight the chemical compositions of the cells and later on, come out as a path-breaking tool for non-invasive and image regulated surgery.

Dr. Bohndiek also mentioned that the tool is now taking its position in various areas of Cancer, one being the detection of Barrett's oesophagus, reportedly a precancerous stage. The team is currently concentrating on improving some of the conventional factors of a modern research. The available instrument of HSI is not user-friendly or economic, so to have a better adoption the team proposed a small, low-cost and robust fluorescence HSI system for better convenience. The complete research project has been presented today at the UEG Week Vienna 2016.

Source: UEG | Image credits : MemorialHospitalTampa