A collaborative project from the department of surgery at Dundee and the departments of Physics at Glasgow and St Andrews has been selected as one of 20 exhibits to be included in this year's "New Frontiers in Science" exhibition at The Royal Society in London and The Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Light at the end of the gullet Regarded as the showcase for the best in British science, the exhibition is to take place in June when the research team will be displaying a system that could potentially revolutionise the treatment of many cancers of the gut - The Fluorescence Detection System.
Lead clinician of the project, the department of surgery's Iain Tait explains: "To cure cancers it is important that they are detected early so people who are at risk of developing cancers have to have regular check-ups. Unfortunately cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are difficult to detect in the early stages as they can be invisible to the naked eye - even when using endoscopy."
The Fluorescence Detection System will literally "highlight" the cancerous tissues as pink hotspots so that a clinician can identify exactly where the cancer is - and at a very early stage. This can be done using a fluorescent drug that will attach only to cancerous tissues - given to the patient as a drink. When illuminated with a violet light the cancerous tumour - undetectable to the naked eye - glows a fluorescent pink.
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