A new type of spray developed by Japanese researchers that makes small tumors, typically missed by CT scans, visibly glow within minutes of being applied. A green dye called gGlu-HMRG is behind the new phenomenon, that could make removal of cancer cells a lot more effective. The dye take takes a few minutes to set-in and react with the enzymes in the membrane of some cancer cells.
The overall process takes a few minutes and is much faster and accurate compared to traditional methods of detection. The spray was developed by Professor Yasuteru Urano of the University of Tokyo, and Hisataka Kobayashi, the chief scientist at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The spray is not 100% effective and/or accurate in finding cancerous cells. But researchers believe further development of the spray is possible making it a very useful resource inside the operating theatre.
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