LETI: High-Precision Breast Tumor Removal Made Possible by LETI Scientists
LETI has created the first radiographic system in Russia that allows a doctor to quickly and accurately determine whether a tumor has been completely removed during a breast tissue surgery.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women: 800,000 to 1 million new cases are reported every year, according to the World Health Organization. This type of cancer ranks second in the number of deaths from cancer in women.
The leading treatment method for breast tumors is the surgical removal of cancerous tissues. At the same time, to prevent postoperative canceration and avoid repeated surgery, it is important to accurately determine that the cancerous tissue has been completely removed.
“To understand that the tumor is completely excised, it is usually removed along with a small contour of healthy cells, which is sent to a specialized laboratory for chemical analysis. The diagnostic procedure takes a long time. We have developed an X-ray system that allows to quickly determine during surgery whether the tumor is completely removed and, if necessary, repeat the surgical intervention.”
Nikolay Potrakhov, Head of the Department of Electronic Instruments and Devices at LETI
The system is a small mobile platform with an X-ray camera in which a removed tissue of the breast is placed. LETI scientists have developed software and an interface that transmits the radiography results to the monitor to process the image of cancerous tissues. The analysis takes only a few minutes.
“This is the first such system in Russia. It was developed on the initiative of our colleagues from the University Mammology Center at the Pavlov University and is already being tested in this center,” adds Nikolay Potrakhov.
The new system is one of the projects of the Department of Electronic Instruments and Devices of LETI in the field of development of mobile radiographic and X-ray tomographic complexes. In 2021, together with specialists from the Agrophysical Research Institute, scientists created a new generation of devices for rapid diagnostics of seeds for the presence of hidden defects, and also developed the Russian national standard for methods of digital radiography of crop seeds.