November 11, 2024
Keio University School of Medicine
Tokyo Dental College
Yokohama National University
Dokkyo Medical University
Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology
A research group from the Department of Neurosurgery, Keio University School of Medicine (Professor Masahiro Toda), including Guest Professor Hikaru Sasaki (Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Ichikawa General Hospital, Tokyo Dental College), Researcher Yujin Esaki, and Collaborative Researcher Shunsuke Shibao (Lecturer, Department of Neurosurgery, Dokkyo Medical University), in a joint research project with Research Advisor Kouhei Ohnishi (Director, Haptics Research Center, Keio University), Group Leader Masamichi Shimono (Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University), and Researcher Takuya Matsunaga (Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology) from the Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (KISTEC), has developed a forceps-type device equipped with force-haptic technology (hereinafter referred to as "force-haptic forceps"), and has demonstrated in animal experiments its potential to distinguish between normal brain tissue and brain tumor tissue based on stiffness.
Force-haptic technology is a technology that can amplify, transmit, record, and reproduce actual tactile sensations, and can quantify the physical properties of objects. Brain tumor resection surgery requires delicate force control and precise fine movements. In cases like glioblastoma, where the boundary between the tumor and normal brain is unclear, skilled techniques and surgical experience are necessary. Meanwhile, for cancer types such as colorectal cancer, the stiffness of tumors has been suggested to be associated with histopathological findings and molecular characteristics. Its application is being considered as a diagnostic biomarker or for predicting the biological properties of cancer and postoperative adverse events. If surgical forceps equipped with force-haptic technology are put into practical use, it is expected to improve safety and standardize techniques in brain tumor resection surgery, as well as enable the characterization of brain tissue based on stiffness.
This study demonstrated, using the force-haptic forceps, that tissue stiffness can serve not only as an indicator to distinguish brain tumors from surrounding normal brain tissue but also as an indicator to differentiate the pathological diagnosis of tumors. Future improvements to the forceps to detect even finer changes in stiffness, or its use for real-time positional information, are expected to contribute to neurosurgery.
The results of this research were published in Scientific Reports on September 13, 2024 (Eastern Time).
For the full press release, please see below.