Grant: Project Grant

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are rising, putting more strain on patients, their families, and the healthcare system. While open gastric surgery is essential for treating advanced cancers, early GI cancers can be removed from the gut through minimally invasive procedures. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a promising method of removing lesions in the gastrointestinal tract using an endoscope. However, adoption of this new technique has been slow due to the technical difficulty of this procedure, length of surgery, and lack of appropriate tools available. The biggest challenge associated with using current ESD tools is that they cannot offer controllable tissue tension which is necessary for surgeons to visualize and separate the tumour from the surrounding healthy tissue. There is a need for a medical device that gives surgeons better independent control over tissue tension to reduce the technical difficulty of the ESD technique. We previously developed a wireless ESD surgical prototype tool that can be easily positioned and anchored to the tissue of interest and be used to apply traction with the help of an external magnet. Now, we will meticulously test the usability and feasibility of our retraction device in simulated guts made out of rubber as well as pig guts to ensure that it is safe and effective. We will also test its adjustability so that it can be applied to different regions of the gut and various human body types. At the end of this project, we will have a novel ESD retraction device that grants surgeons improved control throughout an ESD procedure by allowing them to adequately visualize the affected area through adjustable tissue tension. The ease of administering critical minimally invasive resection procedures using our ESD device would greatly improve patient clinical outcomes by shortening procedure times and minimizing complications. Further engineering this tool could also expand its use for other medical applications.