A tiny magnetic robot which can take 3D scans from deep within the body, potentially revolutionise early cancer detection, has been developed with NIHR Leeds BRC supported research.
This technology was developed through a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and clinicians from the University of Leeds, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Edinburgh. Leeds led the robotics development and integration of the ultrasound probe.
The research, published in Science Robotics, explains how the team integrated an oloid shape, and its unique rolling motion, into a new magnetic flexible endoscope (MFE). They equipped it with a small, high-frequency imaging device to capture detailed 3D images of internal tissues.
This is the first time it has been possible to generate high-resolution three-dimensional ultrasound images taken from a probe deep inside the gastrointestinal tract, or gut.
The innovative approach at Leeds was coordinated by Professor Pietro Valdastri (pictured above), who leads on Workstream 1 for NIHR Leeds BRC’s Surgical Technologies theme, specialising in precision and personalised surgery, with a team of engineers from the University of Leeds.
It paves the way to a transformation of the diagnosis and treatment of several forms of cancer by enabling ‘virtual biopsies’ — non-invasive scans that provide immediate diagnostic data, allowing doctors to detect, stage, and potentially treat lesions in a single procedure: eliminating the need for physical biopsies.
Pietro Valdastri, who is also Professor and Chair in Robotics and Autonomous Systems and Director of the STORM Lab at the University of Leeds said: “For the first time, this research enables us to reconstruct a 3D ultrasound image taken from a probe deep inside the gut – something that has never been done before.”
“This approach enables in-situ tissue analysis and diagnosis of colorectal cancer, with immediate results. The process of diagnosing colorectal cancer currently requires a tissue sample to be removed, then sent to a lab, with results taking from one to three weeks.”
The imaging device – a 28 MHz micro-ultrasound array – creates a high-resolution, 3D reconstruction of the area it scans. From this virtual reconstruction, clinicians can make cross-sectional images that mimic those generated by a standard biopsy, in which a sample of tissue is sliced into thin layers and placed on a slide to be examined under a microscope.
High frequency, or high-resolution ultrasound, is different to the ultrasound most of us are familiar with, used to look at a foetus or internal organs. The high frequency/resolution ultrasound probe used in this study enables users to see features on a microscopic level, down to tissue layer level detail.