Finding the Sentinel Lymph Node with a handheld differential magnetometer

Abstract

In cancer staging, the Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) procedure is a common method to assess the stage to which a cancer has progressed[1]. Currently, the SLN procedure is performed by injecting both a blue dye and a radionuclide tracer near or into the tumor area, and the first lymph node(s) draining the tumor area are located by means of visual inspection and a gamma probe which detects the radiation emitted by the radionuclide tracer. This combined procedure has proven to be very reliable and is used frequently, but suffers from some serious drawbacks that limit its applicability in general practice. These problems are mostly caused by the usage of ionizing radiation, which poses occupational hazards to medical staff and requires extensive logistics, which not all hospitals can offer.