New surgical tool to improve accuracy in both diagnosis and treatment! Posted on July 22, 2013February 25, 2018 by Carly du Toit In an exciting development towards more accurate cancer surgery and tumour diagnosis, a surgical knife that tells the difference between healthy and cancerous tissue is being trialled in the UK. Surgeons from the Imperial College London have used this incredible piece of technology (called the iKnife) to analyse the vapour that is given off when electrical currents cut away tissue during surgery. The tool uses mass spectrometry to identify chemicals present in the tissue and then it reports, within 3 seconds, what the target tissue contains. Continue reading “New surgical tool to improve accuracy in both diagnosis and treatment!”