Development of optical methods for 3D tissue analysis
Development of optical methods for 3D tissue analysisThe research was done to develop a way to help with cancer treatment. Currently, a new way of surgery is under investigation to increase the success rate of cancer surgery by finding the place of the tumour more precisely than in the conventional cancer surgery. In this approach, a laser is used to find the tumor, but this is still not 100% effective, as the laser light cannot reach more than a few mm inside the tissue. So if this could be improved, this would help. In our research, a method was investigated to increase light penetration inside the resected tissue after cancer surgery by making the resected tissue transparent. After making the tissue transparent, precise microscopes can be used to detect cancer cells at a depth of around cm, that is not possible if the tissue is not transparent.The research was done to understand the principle of tissue clearing and make the tissue transparency procedure easier and faster. Based on this research, this complex biological and chemical process can be explained by the basic laws of physics. As a result of this research, it is possible to make tissue transparent in a relevant time for cancer surgery, so the surgeon can get information about the success of the operation within a hour during the operation, instead of waiting a few days and making further decisions, only after the surgery. Yet, these developments needs more investigation and time before they can become routine in cancer surgery.