Unmet Medical Need: Surgeons are often blind to the type of tissue in front of them, relying on biopsies that take hours to days to process, thus delaying answers and requiring expensive repeat procedures if disease is found. Without guidance, biopsy sites are often selected at random, increasing risk of missing disease and unnecessarily causing tissue damage that can confound disease surveillance. 

Envisioned Healthcare Product: The SCAPE-Tech PathFinderTM provides instant answers, with real-time cellular-level imaging of intact, in situ, in vivo tissues via high-speed 3D microscopy of living tissues. SCAPE is a game-changing technology for in situ microscopy, with the potential for broader expansion into new indications with miniaturization.

Stage of Development: Hypothesis testing, proof of concept

December 2015 Dr. Elizabeth Hillman Wins BRAIN Initiative Grant 

January 2015 Article

September 2017 Article

The Optical Society Article

Watch an interview with Dr. Elizabeth Hillman

Collaborative Research Team: Elizabeth Hillman, PhD and John Poneros, MD

Columbia-Coulter Funding Cycle: 2016-2017