Electrical Tumor Detection Probe Calibrated to Diagnose Gastrointestinal Cancer Mass in Real-Time

Abstract

Background: The primary objective of this research is to propose an intra-operative tumor detection probe calibrated on human models of gastrointestinal (G.I.) cancers, enabling real-time scanning of dissected masses. Methods: Electrical Gastrointestinal Cancer Detection (EGCD) measures impedimetric characteristics of G.I. masses using a handpiece probe and a needle-based head probe. Impedance Phase Slope (IPS) and impedance magnitude (Z1kHz) are extracted as the classification parameters. EGCD was tested on palpable G.I. masses and compared to histopathology results. Results: Calibration was carried out on 120 GI mass samples. Considering pathological results as the gold standard, most cancer masses showed Z1kHz between 100 Ω and 2500 Ω while their IPS was between −15 and −1. The EGCD total sensitivity and specificity of this categorization in G.I. cancer patients with palpable tumors were 86.4% and 74.4%, respectively (p-value < 0.01). Conclusion: EGCD scoring can be used for 3D scanning of palpable tumors in G.I. tumors during surgery, which can help clarify the tumors’ pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy or the nature of intra-operative newly found G.I. tumors for the surgeon to manage their surgical procedure better.