I found this great article on the BBC news site which talks about a new Goggle technology that helps surgeons “see” cancer cells in their patients. The article is a bit old (April), but it’s a fascinating look at the amazing power of technology to transform healthcare.
Here’s a short excerpt of how the technology works:
In the study, patients are being injected with a dye before their surgery. The dye has a peptide – a small protein – attached to it that allows it to seek out and bind specifically to cancer cells.
The dyed cancer cells emit light at a wavelength that cannot be seen by the human eye, but can be detected by a sensor in the goggles worn by the surgeons.
“The sensor captures the fluorescence from the dye lodged in cancer tissue and projects the image into the surgeon’s [field of] view,” explained Dr Achilefu.
“This creates an augmented reality that allows the surgeons to see cancer cells glowing, providing real-time guidance during surgery.
The article does note that we still need a much larger set of patient trials for this technology to go mainstream, but it’s easy to see the potential.
I love these types of genius approaches to the use of technology in healthcare. The mix of technology with science is such a powerful combination. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of organizations that are doing a great job bridging both sides of the healthcare community. Are there other examples where you’ve seen the mix of science and technology in healthcare?