New Glasses Help Surgeons 'See' Cancer
So there's Google Glasses and ones you can wear at night that are really sunglasses but that cut out the glare. But how about glasses that allow doctors to see cancer cells? "Viewed through the glasses, cancer cells appear to glow blue under a special light, thanks to a fluorescent marker injected in the tumor that attaches only to cancerous and not to healthy cells. Also, the lighter the shade of blue, the more concentrated the cancer cells are," Medical News Today reports. Surgeons currently have to remove not just cancerous tissue but the tissue surrounding a tumor, as well. Samples of the tissue are then sent to the lab to be examined under a microscope, and if cancer cells are found, the patient often has to have a second operation to remove more tissue, which is then also sent to the lab. According to one doctor, about 20-25% of breast cancer patients who undergo lumpectomy need to come back for a second operation. British researchers described in 2012 ...