The initial study involving the device included 19 patients who underwent brain tumor surgery and three patients who underwent surgery for epilepsy. The patients who underwent surgery for epilepsy served as the control group because their tissue was presumed to be structurally normal.

The researchers found that they were able to see with “excellent clarity” where the brain tumor was on a microscopic scale. “What the study allowed us to validate was a concept that we can use this technique to see tumors that would otherwise be invisible to the surgeons,” said Orringer.


If the device continues to produce good results, it will be submitted to the FDA for approval within two years.

This is just one example of how the health care industry as a whole is starting to move away from physicians’ best guesses and toward more data-driven care. “Certainly if you’re making decisions based on hard data, you’re more likely to be able to achieve that goal of efficiency in health care than if you’re just guessing,” said Orringer.

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