Surgeons are treating the most aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer – glioblastoma – with radiation in the middle of surgery. Pediatric patients are wearing sci-fi-style helmets that can track and treat glioblastoma recurrences in their grey matter. And now, there’s a new tool coming to the surgical oncologist’s toolbox: Reveal Surgical’s Sentry technology.
Reveal Surgical’s tech combines the power of AI with sophisticated optical techniques to provide real-time tissue diagnostics in surgery, allowing surgeons to see the unseen. We’re talking about the otherwise invisible areas of tumors that are smaller than a grain of rice, and unmasking them to surgeons. Giving them the power to take action while they’re in the middle of surgery.
“We’ve basically designed cancer fingerprinting machine and a database of fingerprints in our system, via a technique called Raman spectroscopy,” explained Reveal CEO, Chris Kent. “We’re able to offer doctors real-time molecular data about the tumor they’re encountering in vivo.” This gives surgeons the information they need to improve the precision of their resections. Making possible the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes and prolonging lives.
“Now, when a surgeon examines suspicious tissue, the ‘fingerprint’ they detect will go back to the database,” he said. “Our AI is able to sift through more than 14,000 measurements we have obtained across 5 different cancer types and tell you if something is or isn’t cancer.
When reflecting on the company’s mission, Chris explains, “We see our job as a way to help usher in this next wave of data-driven surgery. The beauty of AI is its effective collaboration at large. It collects data on an ongoing basis and benefits from the experience of every surgeon that has ever used it.”
Reveal’s lead indication is brain cancer, however, the technology is indication agnostic. Currently, they’re looking at applying the tech to prostate cancer, lung cancer, and gynecological surgeries as well.
Over 12,000 individuals in the US will be diagnosed with the most aggressive kind of brain cancer – glioblastoma – this year. Five years after a tumor is found the survival rate of these patients is a tragic 9 percent. Making it one of the worst cancer prognoses around. It’s essential to improve the outlook for these patients and put a stop to the time and lives this type of cancer claims. Innovations in AI-powered oncology can help do that.
