Scientists Invent a Pen That Can Detect Cancer in Seconds

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.............................. from the Smithsonian ...............................

This handheld mass spectrometer could make surgeries to remove cancerous tissue quicker and more accurate

Did you get it all?” is a question many cancer patients ask when waking from surgery. Unfortunately, cancer surgeons rarely know for sure. Surgeons will try to get “clean margins,” removing enough tissue around a tumor to ensure they’ve cut out any microscopic malignancies. But it’s an inexact procedure, and often results in healthy tissue being removed unnecessarily. Now, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the Baylor College of Medicine have developed a device that could test tissue for cancer right in the operating room, leaving no question whether it should be removed or not.

Learn more at:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovatio ... MzOTA0NgS2