A surgeon removing an early-stage tumour from inside the gut or airway currently relies on clumsy, long-handled tools and a two-dimensional view through an endoscope. The Micro-IGES platform aims to replace that with a microscopic surgical system that gives the surgeon a high-resolution, 3D view of the tissue surface and the ability to see through layers to confirm clean excision margins in real time. This matters because endoluminal surgery—removing growths through natural body openings—is far less traumatic than radical surgery, but it is currently plagued by high complication rates from bleeding and perforation, and by incomplete tumour removal. If the platform works, it could transform the care pathway for patients with pre-malignant or early-stage cancers of the gastrointestinal, respiratory, or nasopharyngeal tracts. For elderly patients or those with other illnesses who cannot tolerate major surgery, it would offer a one-stop diagnosis-and-treatment option with dramatically reduced surgical trauma. The project will test the platform in animal models and then in human studies.
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Although radical surgery for cancer is generally oncologically effective, the associated mortality and lifealtering morbidity are significant. Endoluminal excision offers a much less invasive alternative even to laparoscopic radical surgery for the removal of pre-malignant or early-stage malignant tumours. Endoluminal lesions of the gastrointestinal, respiratory or nasopharyngeal tract are accessible through minimally invasive means. However, even those close to the external orifice remain challenging to excise completely due to a lack of effective instrumentation, leading to significant operator dependency, risks of haemorrhage and perforation. Micro-IGES offers a novel microscopic surgical platform for minimally invasive surgery to enable endoluminal tasks to be undertaken with significantly improved consistency and precision through integrated sensing, instrumentation, probe-based microscopic imaging and effective intra-operative guidance that cater for 3D tissue deformation, and see-through' vision to confirm excision margins during specific endoluminal tasks. The platform will be evaluated in both in-vivo animal models and human studies. Micro-IGES offers a streamlined care-pathway for individual patients with improved quality of life and the ultimate potential for one-stop diagnosis and treatment. The platform will reduce surgical trauma - of particular importance to the aged and those with co-morbidities precluding major procedures.
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