Terabotics project aims to improve cancer treatment

The Terabotics project will use probes that use terahertz radiation (T-rays) to scan for tumours under the skin while medical-grade surgical robots will be adapted to use these scans to guide them in removing tumours in skin and colorectal cancer patients more precisely.

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If successful, the researchers hope it could lead to real-time diagnosis for cancer patients, shorter waiting periods for cancer surgery, and more comprehensive removal of tumours with reduced need for follow-up surgery.

The five-year project, which has received funding of £8m from EPSRC, is a collaboration between Warwick University, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire, plus the Universities of Leeds and Exeter. Terabotics, which starts in September 2021, aims to eventually trial the technology with patients attending cancer services at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Previous work from Warwick University’s Department of Physics has shown that T-rays can be used to detect very subtle changes in the outermost layers of skin, and the technique has already been demonstrated on healthy volunteers. This will be the first time that it will be studied in patients within an active cancer process.