Radio-guided surgery is a cutting-edge medical technique used to perform precise and targeted surgical interventions. This surgical approach requires the injection of a radioactive tracer into the patient, which selectively accumulates in the target cancer tissue. A specialized device, equipped with a gamma-ray detector, then guides surgeons by detecting the emitted radiation, revealing the exact location of the affected area that needs to be removed. Current endoscopic commercial devices produce only an audible and/or numerical feedback on the local radioactivity levels at the tip of the device, but do not provide the surgeon with real imaging guidance. This makes the cancer identification ...

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Radio-guided surgery is a cutting-edge medical technique used to perform precise and targeted surgical interventions. This surgical approach requires the injection of a radioactive tracer into the patient, which selectively accumulates in the target cancer tissue. A specialized device, equipped with a gamma-ray detector, then guides surgeons by detecting the emitted radiation, revealing the exact location of the affected area that needs to be removed. Current endoscopic commercial devices produce only an audible and/or numerical feedback on the local radioactivity levels at the tip of the device, but do not provide the surgeon with real imaging guidance. This makes the cancer identification and complete resection still a challenge. We are proposing the design and development of a novel and compact endoscopic imaging device for minimally invasive radio-guided surgery, known as the Nuclear Imaging Capsule (NIC). The NIC will be based on a new high-performance sensor and high-speed electronics. The NIC will produce in near real-time high-definition panoramic images within a focused surgical area. These will help the surgeon to rapidly identify cancer, guide tumor resection, reduce damage to surrounding healthy tissue, and assure the complete removal of the tumor during the surgical operation. The device could be used for any established or novel radio-guided surgery applications, such as breast and prostate cancer, and could be easily integrated into minimally invasive surgical platforms, such as the daVinci surgical system. In the current work, we will target gastropancreatic cancers due to their high incidence, mortality, and hard-to-reach anatomic locations. The proposed work has a high degree of relevance to cancer and its treatment, proposing a new state-of-art technology that will enhance surgeon's abilities and the quality and outcomes of cancer surgery.

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