Introduction

Sparko is a device that enhances the accuracy of methods for cancer diagnosis by the electrical characterization of small areas of living tissue in a wide spectrum of frequencies. The measurement of the homogeneity of the tissue and the visualization of impedance maps allows to accurately analyze the region of interest by defining the margins of the neoplastic formation; this can be helpful in many diagnostic procedures currently performed with surgical, endoscopic and radiological techniques.

Technical features

Quantitative assessment of electrical properties of tissues is a useful tool for improving the accuracy of methods for cancer diagnosis. In fact, it is known that different tissues are characterized by different conductivity and, assuming that the presence of neoplastic tissue induces an alteration, the impedance measurements performed on healthy and tumoral tissues are important clinical information.

The invention can be used during biopsy procedures (performed under radiological and / or endoscopic guidance) in order to select the most appropriate areas to be analyzed and consequently to improve the histopathological diagnostic accuracy.

The device combines in-depth Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Tomography (EIT) techniques. The device performs a four-terminal sensing measurement of the module and of the phase of the complex tissue impedance under examination at varying the frequency (1-100 kHz), and is able to process an impedance map based on the conductivity of the different biological tissues.

Possible Applications

• Diagnosis of tumors: breast, gastro-intestinal tract and prostate.
• Diagnosis of skin cancer.
• Guided biopsy during endoscopy.

Advantages

• Measurements in the deepest tissue layers, selecting the appropriate length of the needle-electrode;
• Impedance maps related to the whole analyzed region, not just punctual measurements;
• Real time measurements;
• EIS and EIT technique coupled in a single device.