Groundbreaking Laser Pen Helped Surgeons Cut Out This Woman's 'Inoperable' Brain Tumour

Last year, Anna Swabey was diagnosed with an 'inoperable' brain tumour - but surgeons used ground-breaking new laser device to save her. 

But surgeons at Charing Cross Hospital are the first in the world to use a laser probe that makes identifying cancerous tissue during surgery much more precise and less invasive. 

The size of a pen, the device shines light on to the tissue while it is still in the brain and then measures the way it bounces back. Molecules in brain tumours react differently under laser light from those in healthy brain tissue.

 The pen, called the Core, is held 5mm away from brain tissue by the surgeon whenever they need to know where to cut.