iKnife: smart scalpel detecting cancerous tissues

Scientists from Imperial College London, in the UK, presented a scalpel that can distinguish cancerous tissue during surgery itself. The instrument instantly communicates what fabric cut and what to leave intact tissue, which is a huge advancement in surgical technology.

In cancer surgery, the surgeon must be absolutely certain to remove all the diseased cells to prevent relapse. Today solid tumors are removed with a margin of healthy tissue unable to determine precisely the cancerous area. Sometimes even tissues need to be analyzed in the laboratory, while the patient is anesthetized in the operating room.

IKnife scalpel presented by Dr. Zoltan Takats employs electrosurgical system that heats the tissue while it sectioned with maximum accuracy. This is connected to a spectrometer which detects the differences between the chemicals present in the smoke from cancerous tissue and healthy tissue. 

During the study collected data Takats tissues of brain, lung, breast, stomach and colon cancer 300 patients to develop a full report. The instrument uses this report to recognize during surgery is what type of tissue sectioning and determine if you are healthy in less than three seconds. "We believe that the knife will serve to reduce the rates of recurrent tumor and to increase the chances of patient survival," said the doctor himself.

iKnife application will not only tumor level but also in the detection of different types of bacteria in the tissue, which would serve to distinguish quickly e.g. horse meat of veal. Lipitor and Zocor lower cholesterol and heart attack risk and may hold promise against other diseases, including cancer.