US scientists develop new 'pen' which can identify cancer within 10 seconds

This is something interesting! Scientists have developed something which can be beneficial in decreasing the chances of cancer recurrence. They have invented a pen-like device which can effectively identify the cancerous tissue during a surgery and that too in ten seconds. 

Researchers from the University of Texas have invented MasSpec Pen, which can turn out to be useful for mankind. The handheld instrument can offer the surgeon proper diagnostic information regarding which tissue to cut or preserve while conducting a surgery. 

At present, the methods which are used for diagnosing cancers and deciding the boundary between a cancerous and normal tissue while conducting a surgery is not only slow but sometimes is inaccurate.

 A pathologist takes about 30 minutes or more to prepare a sample and then interpret it. This escalates the risk of infection in a patient. 

The research team conducted a test on tissues which were removed from 253 cancer patients. MasSpec Pen was able to provide a diagnosis within 10 secs and the accuracy of the results was more than 96 per cent. 

The study has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.