meet Samuel Achilefu, who has built high-tech glasses that help doctors see cancer cells. His work has won him the prestigious St. Louis Award.
Via STL Today:
Achilefu is the 87th person to receive the annual award since it was established in1931 — the worst of the depression years — by prominent philanthropist David P. Wohl. The shoe company owner anonymously founded the award to recognize a St. Louis area resident who “performed such a service as to bring greatest honor to the community.” Wohl hoped to foster optimism and pride in the city he loved.
Award committee president David Kemper, chairman and of Commerce Bancshares Inc., praised Achilefu for “putting St. Louis in the spotlight for advancements in optical imaging technology that have pushed the boundaries of cancer treatment.”
Even under high magnification, it’s nearly impossible for surgeons to tell where a cancer tumor ends and healthy tissue begins. To make sure they remove all the cancerous cells, surgeons remove the tumor and neighboring tissue. The samples are sent to a lab and viewed under a microscope. If the surrounding tissue contains cancer cells, a second surgery is performed to remove even more tissue. Among breast cancer patients, about 20 to 25 percent who have cancerous lumps removed require a second surgery.
The glasses were used for the first time during a breast cancer operation on Feb. 10 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and have since been used on more than two dozen people with breast cancer, melanoma or liver cancer.
A commonly used contrast agent is injected into the patient’s tumor. When viewed with near-infared light, the cancerous cells glow blue. Tumors as small as 1 millimeter in diameter (as thick as about 10 sheets of paper) can be detected.
Breast surgeon Dr. Julie Margenthaler is encouraged. “Imagine what it would mean if these glasses eliminated the need for follow-up surgery and the associated pain, inconvenience and anxiety,” she said.
Achilefu started his research into the eyewear using funds from the university and the Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Program. He assembled a team that included engineers and video game specialists to further refine the glasses. After successfully using the technology in rodents, his team received in 2012 a $2.8 million federal grant, paving the way for use in patients. The results will soon be used to seek FDA approval of the device so other surgeons across the country — who have already been calling — can start using it.
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