New Cancer Imaging Technology Shows Promise
July 18, 2013
A new imaging technology that combines ultrasound and laser technologies has been shown to be highly effective in identifying prostate cancer. The system, which was developed by University of Rochester Medical Center
New Cancer Imaging Technology Shows Promise
July 18, 2013
A new imaging technology that combines ultrasound and laser technologies has been shown to be highly effective in identifying prostate cancer. The system, which was developed by University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) researchers, could also ultimately be deployed to detect and track breast, kidney, liver, skin and thyroid cancers.
The new medical imaging technology – called multispectral photoacoustic imaging – was created by Vikram Dogra, M.D., a professor in URMC’s Department of Imaging Sciences, in collaboration with Naval Rao, Ph.D. from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Technology.
Physicians currently have a suite of tools at their disposal to test for prostate cancer. Monitoring PSA levels, digital rectal examinations, and transrectal ultrasound are all used as frontline screening tools. The current gold standard for a definitive diagnosis of an aggressive vs. slow growing prostate cancer is a prostate biopsy. But even this method – which is invasive, uncomfortable, and carries a risk of side effects – has its limitations; cancers are only successfully detected 70 percent of the time.
Seeing the need for a noninvasive and effective imaging technology to detect cancerou