((PKG)) CANCER DETECTING PEN
((Banner: A Cancer Detecting Pen))
((Reporter/Camera: Elizabeth Lee))
((Map: United States / Texas / Austin))
((AYDIN ZAHEDIVASH, CO-CREATER OF MASSPEC PEN))
So the MassSpec Pen can detect cancer really rapidly during surgery. Usually this process will take about anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour and that process usually will involve taking out some of the tissue which means cutting it from a patient. Our technology can detect cancer inside of a tissue without cutting it or altering it. It just takes a little bit of the fluid and within 20 seconds you have a diagnosis.
((UT Animation of how it works))
((Courtesy: “The University of Texas))
The least amount of harmful substances you use in a person the better, and we figured out that water works just fine. So the way it works is, It drops a tiny bit of water onto the tissue and with a really controlled set of valves, it will take the tissue back to the mass spectrometer machine and then from there, it will analyze the molecules inside the fluid and give you a diagnosis.
((UT photo of surgeon testing a piece tissue))
We’ve done testing on human tissues that have been taken out
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of patients and those have shown 96% accuracy detecting cancer from non-cancer. It’s a multi-disciplinary team between chemists, engineers and clinical faculty, and between the start of the idea and now it’s been about two and a half years, and since then we’ve 3-D printed all of the prototyping which allowed us to rapidly develop a design that works.
We’ll be testing the device…..
((UT photo of surgery))
((Courtesy: “The University of Texas))
…..in surgery at three different places.
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One over here at UT Austin at the Dell Medical school, at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and at the
((Animation of OR))
((Courtesy: “The University of Texas))
Baylor College of Medicine also in Houston, Texas.
Well, it’s a game changer because…..
((End Courtesy))
…..I was doing a case the other day with a surgeon and we had to wait an additional two hours because the current method takes that long. Being able to have this answer cancer or not will…..
((UT photo of OR))
((Courtesy: “The University of Texas))
…..really change how long someone has to stay in surgery and it will save people time because you get more of the cancer out the first time.
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