Micro-IGES - Microscopic Image Guided Endoluminal Surgery

Although radical surgery for cancer is generally oncologically effective, the associated mortality and life altering 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. Microscopic Image Guided Endoluminal Surgery (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. During this Award 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.