iknife

[1] During a surgery this information is given continuously to the surgeon, significantly accelerating biological tissue analysis and enabling identification and removal of cancer cells.

[4] Furthermore, the technology behind iKnife - rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS) - can identify Candida yeasts down to species level.

[5] Zoltán Takáts, Ph.D., a Hungarian research chemist associated with Semmelweis University, in Budapest, invented the intelligent surgical knife.

The instrument has been acquired by the Massachusetts Waters Corporation for development by MediMass Ltd., which identifies it as substantive innovative technology labelled, "Intelligent late" and "REIMS", according to their press release on 23 July 2014.

Direct examination of biological tissue by mass spectrometry (MS) began in the 1970s, but at that time the next advance in technical conditions did not exist.

The desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) was the first-MS technique, which allowed non-invasive testing of any objects (or organisms) without sample preparation, regardless of their shape or mechanical properties.

The most important advantage of the specificity of mass spectrometry data is at the histological level, providing the opportunity to identify biological tissue based on chemical composition.

The software continuously compares the incoming data during surgery, validates mass spectra stored in a database, assigns the appropriate class, and the result is displayed visually to the surgeon.