Laser knives kill every cancer cell

The type of laser knife invented by engineers at the University of Texas (USA) allows doctors to target individual cells, precisely removing the tumor without damaging the surrounding healthy cells.

The device is a combination of two technologies: a femtosecond laser and a two-photon fluorescence microscope, into a single small flexible probe. The probe can identify individual cells in three-dimensional space, penetrating up to 250 microns into the tissue.

The new laser can remove the tumor.(Photo: ABC)

This device can be a significant step forward for the endoscopic surgery industry that requires high precision, such as killing cancer cells scattered in brain tissue or in the larynx.

Currently, laser devices are often used in laparoscopic surgery to burn diseased tissue. But they often produce a lot of heat, damaging cells around the tissue to destroy, causing widespread damage.

In contrast, femtosecond lasers use less energy, and therefore produce less heat in the tissue. To date, it has only been used on body surfaces such as skin or eyes. Meanwhile, the two-photon fluorescence microscope technology is capable of producing three-dimensional images of small structures. No one has combined these two technologies, until the recent achievement of Ben-Yakar and his colleagues at the University of Texas.