TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 8 36 Solutions: TMC Innovations A Pen that Detects Cancer in Real Time Handheld device identifies cancer in seconds during surgery B y C h r i s t i n e H a l l O ne telephone call triggered a new device that aims to give surgeons more precise diagnostic information about what to cut and what to preserve during cancer surgery. Livia Schiavinato Eberlin, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin, made that phone call, and James Suliburk, M.D., associate professor and head of endocrine sur- gery at Baylor College of Medicine answered it. "She wanted to test a mass spec- trometer to see if it would rule in or rule out cancer," Suliburk said. "I responded with 'Yes!'" Mass spectrom- etry is a fairly new application within clinical settings, Suliburk said. A mass spectrome- ter measures characteristics of individual mole- cules. Eberlin wanted to test the MasSpec Pen, a handheld device that can detect cancer by touch—in real time. A surgeon holds the MasSpec Pen against the patient's tissue and uses a foot pedal to trigger the automated analysis, waiting a few seconds for a result. The pen releases a drop of water onto the tissue, and small mole- cules from the tissue migrate into the water. Then the device drives the water sample into the mass spectrometer, which reads thou- sands of molecules as a molecular fingerprint. When the MasSpec Pen completes the tissue analysis, the words "Normal" or "Cancer" appear automatically on a computer screen. Surgeons then know which tissue to remove and which tissue to leave in the body. Significantly, the pen allows surgeons to analyze tissue while it's still in the body, unlike frozen section analysis, the current method for diag- nosing cancer during surgery and determining the boundary between cancerous tissue and healthy tissue. NO APPOINTMENTS NO INSURANCE NEEDED OPEN EVENINGS & WEEKENDS LIFE HAPPENS . CHIROPRACTIC CAN HELP. Just 15 minutes a week of routine chiropractic care can help treat pain and prevent it from coming back. The Joint oers membership plans and packages, making staying healthy aordable and convenient. Includes consultation, exam & adjustment $ 29 * Initial Visit West U 3177 W. Holcombe Blvd. Houston, TX 77025 (281) 819 5574 | thejoint.com *Offer valued at $39. Valid for new patients only. See clinic for chiropractor(s)' name and license info. Clinics managed and/or owned by franchisee or Prof. Corps. Restrictions may apply to Medicare eligible patients. Individual results may vary. © 2018 The Joint Corp. All Rights Reserved. The frozen section process, which has been around for 100 years, involves the removal of tissue or an organ so it can be studied under a microscope. Frozen section is often slow and sometimes inaccurate, and each sample can take a pathologist as much as 45 minutes to prepare and inter- pret, increasing the patient's risk for infection. In addition, frozen section analysis is difficult to interpret for some types of cancers. And once the tissue or organ is removed, it can't be put back, said Suliburk, who often operates on the thyroid. "We operate to remove a part of or all of the thyroid," he said. "What we find is that a majority of the patients will not have cancer, but until now, our diagnostics were not to the point, yet, where we could improve that procedure." But with the MasSpec Pen, can- cerous tissue is accu- rately identified in about 10 seconds, he said. The MasSpec Pen was devel- oped by a team of scientists, surgeons and James Suliburk, M.D., associate professor and head of endocrine surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. The MasSpec Pen can detect cancer in human tissue.

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