Korea Photonics Technology Institute, Localization of Contrast Agents and Imaging Equipment for Cancer Surgery

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jin-Hyung Park] The Korea Photonics Technology Institute (President Shin Yong-jin) announced on the 27th that it has domestically developed a surgical near-infrared color fluorescence imaging device that uses contrast agents extracted from seaweed and kelp to visualize invisible sentinel lymph nodes, parathyroid cancer tissues, and blood vessels in real time.

Currently, the contrast agents and black-and-white fluorescence imaging devices used in cancer surgeries or vascular angiography procedures are mostly expensive imported products, and are only used in advanced hospitals.

The fluorescence imaging device jointly developed by Dr. Jong-Hyun Eom’s team at the Intelligent Fluorescence IoT Research Center of the Korea Photonics Technology Institute and the research team at Ontec Co., Ltd. not only improves surgical safety by providing clearer color images compared to existing devices but also allows the use of existing fluorescent contrast agents.

The newly developed fluorescence imaging device is preparing to obtain clinical approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for detecting sentinel lymph node metastasis in breast cancer through collaboration with Dankook University Hospital (Professor Jin-Cheol Ahn / Professor Jun-Won Min’s team).

Once clinical trial approval is completed in the second half of this year, it is expected to become the first domestically approved near-infrared color fluorescence imaging diagnostic device in Korea.

The contrast agent jointly developed by Dr. Yong-Doo Choi’s team at the National Cancer Center and BioActs Co., Ltd. has improved fluorescence signal persistence and accuracy in indicating the location of cancer tissues compared to existing contrast agents, which not only aids in precise surgeries but also shortens operation times.

Currently, this contrast agent is mass-produced and sold by BioActs Co., Ltd. for research use (experimental animals).

Kim Jung-ho, director of the Intelligent Fluorescence IoT Research Center at the Korea Photonics Technology Institute, stated, “We expect this technology developed with support from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Korea Institute of Marine Science and Technology Promotion) to be a good example of product commercialization through domestic companies and market release,” adding, “We will continue to cooperate with related companies to ensure that various medical device products applying optical imaging technology lead to commercialization.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.