New scanner for detecting cancerous tissue during surgery in the patient’s body

BBMRI.at contributed to establish the contact between an Israeli company and Med Uni Graz. This resulted in a joint national FFG-funded research project, which recently started. Researchers from the company and from Institute of Pathology Med Uni Graz are testing a new scanner for detecting cancerous tissue during surgery on the patient’s body. Now NUTEK has established a settlement in Austria at the ZWT at the Med Uni Graz Campus.

NUTEK’s device called ‘Rainbow Probe’ shall allow a real-time verification that the cavity surface is free of cancerous tissue and provide guidance for further surgical excision.

Undetected residual cancer tissue after surgery can lead to ongoing pain, longer recovery time, the need for more aggressive treatment or re-excision and an increased risk of recurrence. With its Rainbow Probe, NUTEK aims to detect cancer residues in the patient’s body during surgery, enabling immediate correction by the surgeon. This is achieved with a unique small imaging device that provides real-time data about the scanned in-vivo tissue and AI algorithms to analyze the acquired data.

After successful ex-vivo animal testing, the company is will now start to do further research on its product and has established a subsidiary in Austria. It has recently received an FFG grant and will collaborate with researchers of the institute of pathology of the Medical University of Graz, a cooperation that has also been mediated with the help of BBMRI.at and the Human Technology Styria Life Science Cluster.