Surgical knife identifies cancer cells as it cuts

Independent : The surgical removal of tumors is a standard treatment for cancer, but often at least 20% of the cancerous tissue is left behind. A new electrosurgical knife—invented by Zoltan Takats of Imperial College London—might change that. The knife cauterizes blood vessels as it cuts, and the resulting smoke is collected and passed through a mass spectrometer to detect the telltale signs of cancer cells. In lab trials, the new procedure identified malignant tissue with 100% accuracy. If it is equally successful in actual practice, it will significantly reduce the number of followup surgeries. Takats, who has established a company called Medimass to commercialize the knife, also envisions nonmedical uses such as food safety testing.