First utilisation of the Histolog® Scanner in brain cancer surgery

3rd March 2022

The Histolog® Scanner was installed this week at the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, where it will be evaluated in brain cancer surgery by the clinical team including Mr. Ryan Mathew and Dr. Will Bolton. 

Brain cancer is among the most challenging malignancies to treat, and many patients suffer disabling symptoms, despite the wide range of treatments available. Surgery being the usual treatment for most brain tumors, minimally invasive techniques and conservative treatments have never been more important. With an organ as delicate as the brain, surgeons are indeed faced with a difficult compromise: remove all cancerous tissue without removing healthy tissue.

The unmet medical need

Confirming the diagnosis in brain tumour patients directly during surgery is of prime importance to avoid a separate repeat operation. To do so, a physical sample tumour tissue has to be analysed for histological classification and grading. Diagnostic biopsy requires most of the time a sample to be sent during the operation to pathologist (sometimes by courier to a different site). The entire process can take up to 90 minutes with surgeons waiting in theatre with patient asleep, resulting to a consequent theatre time and need for additional resources such as tissue transport. Another unmet need is the inability to identify cancer tissue rapidly and repeatedly from healthy brain tissue because they often look the same to the naked eye. 

A real-time, high-resolution technology that better preserves samples is required to enable faster and less destructive identification of cancerous versus healthy brain tissue.

Courtesy of Prof. Ryan Mathew