A young man has successfully undergone pioneering brain surgery to remove a tumor. The procedure used two technologies – a laser probe and a smart knife – that appear set to revolutionize the performance of delicate surgery.

Share on Pinterest The new laser probe and smart knife effectively bring the lab into the operating theater.

Twenty-two-year-old PhD student Reuben Hill is the first patient to take part in a trial being conducted at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London, UK, to test the use of the two new technologies.

Tumors of the brain result in more life years lost than any other tumor because although they are rare, they often strike the young.

The first step is often brain surgery. This is a delicate and precise operation where one of the major challenges is that the boundary between the tumor and normal brain tissue is hard to see, even through a microscope. Another challenge is leaving enough margin of healthy tissue to ensure all the cancer is removed.

At present, the surgeon has to send samples of removed tissue to the lab for biopsy to find out if it is cancerous or healthy. This can take up to 30 minutes each time. There is also a risk of cutting into healthy tissue, leading to serious side effects such as loss of speech or movement.

The new laser probe and smart knife look set to change this by effectively bringing the lab into the operating theater, providing near instant confirmation for the surgeon of whether the tissue is cancerous or healthy.

Using scattered light, the laser probe distinguishes cancerous from healthy tissue, and helps the surgeon map the tumor and decide precisely where to cut.

The smart knife – called the iKnife – confirms within seconds whether the tissue being cut is cancerous or healthy without the need for a biopsy. It comprises an electric scalpel that burns the tissue, the smoke from which is sucked away and instantly analyzed.