Glanzir adopts light to penetrate the surface layer of the tissue and excites corresponding autoflurescent molecules to generate consistent images and conduct scanning, therefore preserving cell samples.
Currently, cancer patients go through two kinds of histological imaging, namely intraoperative frozen section and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedding.
Both methods are labour-intensive with complicated steps, requiring surgeons to cut through cell tissues to check for tumours.
They take up to 45 minutes and around a week respectively to generate results, with the latter to be conducted after surgery.
Under the existing methods, about 10 to 20 percent of patients need a second operation to ensure all tumours are eliminated.
“We are hoping that with Glanzir, one day we can really eliminate all the second surgeries, because you will have a more accurate diagnosis during the operations,” said Professor Terrence Wong, who heads the HKUST research team.
“But even if we are a little bit improving the accuracies, we also can shorten the surgeries by a very significant time length. For example, a frozen session takes 30 minutes, but we only take three minutes. So for one round, 27 minutes is saved. If it’s like a few rounds, let’s say four rounds, you basically save almost two hours.
“These time benefits will also help the patients to undergo shorter time under anesthesia, which will be highly beneficial for human health,” he added.
Wong said the system aims to achieve diagnostic accuracy of about 95 percent — comparable to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedding, which would shorten operating times by at least 30 minutes.
The research team has been collaborating with medical institutions and hospitals in both Hong Kong and on the mainland to carry out testing.
More than 2,000 lung and breast cancer patient samples have been collected for system training and validation, Wong said, and the machine has so far reached an average concordance rate of 85 percent or higher.
He said the team would continue to expand the technology’s application to other cancer types, including colorectal, prostate, thyroid, and more.
The professor also said the team hopes to receive certification by mid-2027 under the National Medical Products Administration, and have it applied widely in clinical settings by the end of the year.
