Verisante Technology Announces Brain Tumour Study in the UK

Verisante Technology, Inc. has entered into a collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to develop a new application for the Company’s exclusively licensed platform technology.  

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust will be using Verisante’s laser Raman system in a study to determine if the system is able to assist in ascertaining the margins between tumour and normal brain tissue. Verisante is providing Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust with a Raman system. Dr. Haishan Zeng, a distinguished scientist in the Integrative Oncology Department at BC Cancer Agency is leading the development of the endoscopic Raman probe that will be used in the study. 

“Using Verisante Core™ for delineation of brain tumour margins could be a significant new use for the device,” said Dr. Zeng, who is also a professor of dermatology and skin science at the University of British Columbia in addition to his work at the BC Cancer Agency. “Our collaboration with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust enables us to keep testing the technology on real patients in a clinical setting using new applications.”

Brain tumours are rare but have a disproportionate effect on society as they often strike the young. For this reason brain tumours result in more years of life lost than any other tumour. The first step in the patient pathway is often brain surgery which is understandably delicate and highly precise. One of the major obstacles to removing brain tumours is the fact that the boundary between the tumour and normal brain is very hard to see using the naked eye, even with an operating microscope. The group will focus on collecting data during brain tumour surgery done at Charing Cross Hospital in London, England. 

“With this new international partnership between Verisante and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, we are hopeful we will be able see beyond the naked eye to diagnose and map brain tumours during surgery using Verisante’s Raman laser spectroscopy system,” said Mr. Babar Vaqas, a Neurosurgeon and Principle Investigator of the study at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. “This study will be unique in that it will be the first ever application of Raman spectroscopy during human brain surgery.”