NUS researchers invent cancer-screening tool; trials conducted on more than 500 patients

Professor Ho Khek Yu (left), head of Department of Medicine in NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and Associate Professor Huang Zhiwei, from the Department of Biomedical Engineering in NUS Faculty of Engineering, demonstrate the detection of a mali
Professor Ho Khek Yu (left), head of Department of Medicine in NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and Associate Professor Huang Zhiwei, from the Department of Biomedical Engineering in NUS Faculty of Engineering, demonstrate the detection of a malignant tumour in the stomach, on Feb 10, 2014. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have invented a screening tool to make cancer diagnosis less subjective.

Once inserted into a patient's body, the tool is able to immediately recognise whether a particular patch of tissue it is touching might be cancerous without the need for a biopsy.

As such, the tool can be used to alert patients even before cancer cells start to emerge in them.

The tool is currently being used in clinical trials, and has been tested on more than 500 patients so far. Although it focuses more on diagnosing gastrointestinal cancers, it has also been tested on cervical cancer, for instance. Plans are underway for commercialisation of the technology in less than five years.

The technology was developed as a collaboration between the NUS Faculty of Engineering and the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.