A System for Intraoperative Cancer Margin Detection by Diathermy Smoke Analysis

Abstract

In this thesis, a method and system capable of intraoperative cancer margin detection, with potential to improve the current methodology, is introduced, tested and validated. The system is based on diathermy smoke analysis by differential ion mobility spectrometry (DMS). Three large measurement sets with different objectives were executed. The first measurement set concentrated on validating the function of a novel filtration device, which is an essential part of the full system proposed in this thesis, and was patented during the thesis work. In the second measurement set, a proof-of-concept study with porcine tissues was conducted to elucidate, whether healthy tissue identification with the system is possible. The third measurement set was a pilot test with two types of clinical human brain tumor samples, with the aim to achieve actual reliable cancer identification with the proposed system. Regarding the objectives, all the three measurement sets were successful. Based on the results, we state that the patented filtration solution works with a high efficiency without compromising tissue identification, and that cancer detection based on the ion mobility spectrometer analysis of tissue smoke can be achieved with our system.