New Tool to Help Brain Surgeons, One Step Closer to Operating Room

A new tool that could allow for faster, more comprehensive testing of brain tissue during surgery successfully identified the cancer type, grade and tumor margins in five brain surgery patients, according to a new Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Purdue University study.  The paper detailing the results will be published in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The tool sprays a microscopic stream of charged solvent onto the tissue surface to gather information about its molecular makeup and produces a color-coded image that reveals the nature and concentration of tumor cells.

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