{"id":11291,"date":"2018-03-09T21:24:40","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T21:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/solutions-pen-detects-cancer-real-time\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T15:03:54","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:03:54","slug":"solutions-pen-detects-cancer-real-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2018\/03\/solutions-pen-detects-cancer-real-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Solutions: A Pen that Detects Cancer in Real Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
One telephone call triggered\u00a0a new device that aims\u00a0to give surgeons more precise\u00a0diagnostic information about\u00a0what to cut and what to preserve\u00a0during cancer surgery.<\/p>\n
Livia Schiavinato Eberlin, Ph.D.,\u00a0assistant professor of chemistry\u00a0at The University of Texas (UT) at\u00a0Austin, made that phone call, and\u00a0James Suliburk, M.D., associate\u00a0professor and head of endocrine surgery\u00a0at Baylor College of Medicine, answered it.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to test a mass spectrometer\u00a0to see if it would rule in or\u00a0rule out cancer,\u201d Suliburk said.\u00a0\u201cI responded with \u2018Yes!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Mass spectrometry\u00a0is a fairly\u00a0new application\u00a0within clinical\u00a0settings,\u00a0Suliburk\u00a0said. A mass\u00a0spectrometer\u00a0measures\u00a0characteristics\u00a0of individual molecules.\u00a0Eberlin wanted\u00a0to test the MasSpec Pen,\u00a0a handheld device that can detect\u00a0cancer by touch\u2014in real time.<\/p>\n