A pen that detects cancerous tissue could help surgeons remove the full tumor
A new handheld device, the MasSpec Pen, could someday help cancer surgeons figure out what to cut and what to leave alone in real time.
A new handheld device could someday help cancer surgeons figure out what to cut and what to leave alone in real time.
The device, called the MasSpec Pen, is (unsurprisingly) about the size of a pen and employs water, plastic tubing, and a mass spectrometer. It’s the latest in engineers’ efforts to speed up the pace at which samples collected during operations are processed for clinically valuable information.
