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[1] Yes, please wear the Goggles Signs. - Apart from Goggles to protect against errant laser light. Rob Wilson is about to be scanned with a new technology that's completely harmless, non-invasive, and could revolutionize medical imaging.
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[2] This trial has shown it's particularly good at seeing blood vessels of interest in Rob's case, because he has arthritis that causes painful inflammation in his joints.
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[3] "My inflammatory arthritis was being treated. I was not experiencing any symptoms. However, the images did find that there was evidence of active inflammation within the joints of my hand, which potentially could be causing damage, which I was otherwise unaware of."
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[4] The breakthrough here has been miniaturizing something called photoacoustic tomography and taking images fast enough for use in a handheld device. It avoids the risk of x-rays, takes up less space than an MRI machine, and reveals details neither of them can.
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[5] By using very fast pulses of light. - "You heard that clicking sound being fired into the tissues of my hand, and the molecules in my blood vessels are excited by that laser and give out a pulse of ultrasound in response.
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[6] And that's detected by another sensor in the device, and that allows them to build up this really detailed image in just a few seconds.
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[7] The scanner is fast enough to see dynamic processes like blood flowing through tiny capillaries. The trial showed its potential in patients with diabetes, as well as breast cancer.
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[8] "We're able to see very precisely the exact margins of the tumor. So, where the tumor ends and where the normal breast tissue begins."
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[9] "That sort of thing would be incredibly useful for planning things like minimally destructive surgery, so just taking out the finest margin around the tumor that you possibly can."
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[10] The researchers need to scan more patients to refine the technology, but say within 5 years it could provide a totally new view inside our bodies. Tom Clark, Sky News.