The imaging techniques currently used in biological research cannot penetrate into deeper tissue layers. In cancer treatment, this means that remnants of tumors or individual cancer cells at tumor margins and in lymph nodes are not visible. Doctors performing surgery are therefore repeatedly faced with the difficult question of whether all of the affected tissue has actually been removed.
For the patient's quality of life, however, the complete removal of the tumor is just as essential as the preservation of healthy tissue and organs. In their research, the scientists led by Oliver Bruns, Andriy Chmyrov, Ellen Sletten and Christopher Rowlands are making use of the properties of short-wave infrared light. Thanks to its lower scattering, it can penetrate deeper into tissue, enabling improved visualization of tissue structures.
In cancer research in particular, the unprecedented sensitivity of imaging using short-wave infrared light, fluorescent dyes and state-of-the-art cameras may enable us to make even just a few cancer cells clearly visible. Our goal is to precisely detect and remove even the smallest tumor remnants in the future." Prof.
Oliver Bruns, Chair in the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has recognized the potential of this technology and has already funded the researchers with one million USD in 2021. Based on the outstanding results in the first funding phase, the team will now even receive funding of USD 2.2 million.
The consortium.