TECHNOLOGY CENTERS AND UNIVERSITIES | SPAIN
HELICOID
Hyperspectral imaging in the detection of brain tumors
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
Technology and brain tumors
The main objective of the HELICoiD project is the application of hyperspectral imaging techniques for the precise localization of malignant tumors during surgical procedures on brain tumors. Specifically, an experimental setup has been developed based on non-invasive hyperspectral cameras connected to a platform running a set of algorithms capable of discriminating between healthy or pathological tissues.
The change in cell physiology that causes cancer to develop is detected as a change in the hyperspectral signature of the tissue. The developed prototype aims to recognize cancerous tissues during the surgical procedure so that the surgeon has different visualization devices that overlay real images with the tissue classification maps made by the prototype.
HELICoiD is a collaboration between four universities (Universidad de Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine of London, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Association pour la Recherche et le Developpement des Methodes et Processus Industriels de Paris - Armines); three industrial partners (Medtronic Iberica S. A., General Equipment for Medical Imaging S.A. and Virtual Angle B.V.) and two hospitals (Fundación Canaria de Investigación Sanitaria and University Hospital of Southampton NHS Foundation Trust).
Date of execution:
January 2014 - December 2016
Location:
Spain
Sector:
Scientific, medicine and research
Client:
How we made it happen
Hyperspectral technology
The participation of Álava Ingenieros in HELICoiD has consisted of technical advice and training in hyperspectral imaging, as well as in the definition and adjustment of the most suitable sensors according to the problems and results obtained throughout the project, a key work to achieve the best accuracy.
Hyperspectral imaging is capable of collecting a massive amount of spectral and spatial information structured in hundreds of bands covering a narrow and contiguous portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
The boundary between tumor and healthy tissue
This tool allows us to visualize with great clarity the border between tumor and healthy tissue, something really complex, in real time. The hyperspectral images we capture of the patient's brain also change as we extract the tumor cells, so that displacements in the brain mass no longer hinder our work.
This is unprecedented in neurosurgery. And we perform this entire process in a noninvasive manner, since the HELICoiD does not act on the patient; it only captures images without the need to inject contrasts or apply radiation...", explains Dr. Juan Francisco Piñeiro, assistant to the Neurosurgery Service of the Hospital Doctor Negrín in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
OUR EXPERIENCE
