Gamma leaks out of Notts and Leicester

Leicester and Nottingham University are collaborating on a new spin-out to bring a mini-gamma ray imaging camera to improve tumour diagnosis and surgery outcomes.

Previously only available with large instruments housed in nuclear medicine departments, Gamma Technologies will be developing a handheld device that will bring both optical and gamma imaging to a patient’s bedside table or into the operating theatre.

Typically, sentinel node biopsy is used for cancer staging, where a gamma probe detects a radioactive tracer injected into the patient. However, since the probe is non-imaging, nodes may be missed and it can lead to misdiagnosis.

John Lees, who led the project to develop the camera, said: “Our system will improve surgical cancer treatments, reducing mortality and morbidity by enabling surgeons to increase lymph or tumour removal efficiency while minimising damage to normal tissue.”

Gamma has raised £250,000 so far through the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Challenge Led Applied Systems Programme.