A breast cancer imaging invention aimed at improving surgery accuracy has been given funding for trials in Western Australia and could eventually hit the world market.
About a quarter of breast cancer patients currently require two surgeries because doctors cannot see microscopic tumours during the first operation, but a hand-held imaging probe developed at the University of WA will be able to detect them in real-time.
Researcher Brendan Kennedy said surgeons were currently relying on primitive methods.
"In many cases, surgeons are using their finger or just their eyesight to try and determine if they've got all of the cancer," he told reporters on Friday.
He said if the new tool was successful it would mean fewer patients would need follow-up surgery.
Surgeon Christobel Saunders said the laboratory tests were promising and the tool could help reduce health system costs.
"We will cut down the number of operations that we need to do," she said.
Hundreds of people will participate in the trial and it is hoped the device will later be available worldwide.
OncoRes Medical has been established to commercialise the product and will receive up to $6 million from the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.
Health Minister Roger Cook said it marked a "coming of age" for health and medical research development and innovation in WA.
"It shows that researchers no longer have to look outside the state to get the support and investment that they need to bring their ideas to fruition," he said.
