Intra-operative detection of positive margins in breast surgery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Quantitative OCT-Raman spectral imaging for intra-operative detection of positive margins in breast conserving surgery
IRAS ID
336788
Contact name
Ioan Notingher
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 5 months, 1 days
Research summary
Positive margins are detected for 20-30% of patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. Because histology takes ~1 week patients with positive margins require a second operation to excise the whole tumour. Detecting positive margins intra-operatively would allow immediate excision of the tumour, but scanning the whole specimen at high resolution within few minutes remains challenging.
Raman microscopy can detect molecular differences between normal tissue and cancer but requires hours to scan a whole specimen at high resolution. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can measure structural images of tissue at high-speeds but lacks molecular specificity.
We propose a dual-modality approach that maximises the complementary strengths of OCT
(speed and resolution) and Raman spectroscopy (molecular specificity). We will build a unique combined system using an optimised OCT scanning procedure that integrates Raman measurements to analyse whole specimen within 10 minutes and machine learning algorithms to deliver quantitative diagnosis (tumour present Yes/No). The sensitivity and specificity of the OCT-Raman system will be tested using lumpectomy specimens from patients undergoing surgery and compared agaisnt the histopathological diagnosis.REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/SW/0020
Date of REC Opinion
16 Feb 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion