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Gastrointestinal CancerNCT05830292

Use of DRS Probe and Tracking for In-vivo Application

A study testing Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) probe in people with Gastrointestinal Cancer, run by Imperial College London at 1 site in United Kingdom.

Unknown status

Status not confirmed. The sponsor has not verified this record for over two years, so it may be out of date.

Official record
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Trial summary

A spectroscopic probe is a sensor designed to illuminate and gather light directly from the tissue while touching it. The probe contains optical fibres, some which illuminate the surface of the tissue with harmless visible (white) light, and others that collects the light that has been reflected from inside the… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 99 years
Conditions the study is for
Gastrointestinal Cancer
What is being tested?
Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) probe
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
20 participants
Where
1 siteUnited Kingdom
Study dates
20 May 2022to 1 Apr 2024
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 99 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Patients undergoing primary upper GI cancer resection surgery
  • Patients undergoing primary lower GI (colorectal) cancer resection surgery
  • Patients >18 years of age
  • Patients who consent to take part in the study

Who cannot join

  • Patients who do not consent to the study or decline to participate
  • Patients who do not meet the inclusion criteria
  • Patients who lack capacity
  • Patients undergoing emergency lower or upper GI cancer surgery
  • Patients undergoing re-operation for cancer surgery
  • Pregnant women

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Christopher Peters, PhD contact

020 3312 6666

christopher.peters@imperial.ac.uk

United Kingdom1 site, 1 recruiting
  • Imperial College NHS Trust

    London, W12 0HS

    Christopher Peters, 020 3312 6666, christopher.peters@imperial.ac.uk

    Recruiting

Other trials in United Kingdom

About this study

Official title: Using a Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy Probe In-vivo to Identify Tumour and Non-tumour Tissue in the Gastrointestinal Tract to Aid Margin Assessment

A spectroscopic probe is a sensor designed to illuminate and gather light directly from the tissue while touching it. The probe contains optical fibres, some which illuminate the surface of the tissue with harmless visible (white) light, and others that collects the light that has been reflected from inside the tissue. As the investigators track the position of the probe, they can create spectroscopic images with richer colour information, allowing surgeons to differentiate between different types of tissue, such as normal or cancerous regions.

The spectroscopic probe, either sterilised or covered with a sterile probe cover, will be used on the tissue as part of the patient's operation, inside the body itself. The tissue will be sampled using the spectroscopic probe before the surgeons remove the tissue from the body. The research team will be in the operating theatre. The surgeon or a member of the research team will use the optical probe on the tissue samples. This will involve taking pictures and videos of the sample while the research team scan the samples with the spectroscopic probe.

Read the detailed description

Cancers of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract remain a major contributor to the global cancer risk, with approximately 2.8million cases of colorectal and stomach cancer worldwide. These malignancies continue to pose a major threat to public health. The aim of surgery is for complete resection of tumour with clear margins, whilst preserving as much surrounding tissue as possible. A positive circumferential resection margin (CRM) is associated with local recurrence of the tumour and poorer long-term survival, so it is paramount to establish tissue margins accurately.

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a technique that allows discrimination of normal and abnormal tissue and presents a promising advancement in cancer diagnosis. Light emitted using a DRS probe is absorbed and scattered by different structures within tissue and emitted back onto the probe. The wavelength and intensity of this collected light is specific to each tissue type, and in this way, different tissue can be distinguished based on spectral data.

The investigators have developed an optical tracking system to overcome single-point spectral measurements, for use intra-operatively to aid margin assessment. This system is able to process thousands of spectra in a small timeframe, which can be used in real-time to distinguish tumour and non-tumour tissue.

A benchtop ex vivo study on upper GI specimens has successfully tested these approaches.

Participants undergoing elective GI cancer surgery at Imperial NHS trust will be recruited by the clinical care team through clinic. Patients willing to take part in the study will be consented. The study involves a probe emitting harmless visible light being used on the organ that will be removed during the operation just before it is resected. This should not interfere with the operation being carried out and will take 5-15mins in total.

Being tested
Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) probe
Keywords
cancer, artificial intelligence, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, gastrointestinal
Medical subject headings
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms, Neoplasms

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) probeDevice

    The spectroscopic DRS probe, either sterilised or covered with a sterile probe cover, will be used on the tissue as part of the patient's operation, inside the body itself.

Study groups in NCT05830292
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
DRS in-vivoExperimentalParticipants (patients undergoing GI cancer surgery) will have a DRS probe used on the in-vivo tissue for 5-10 minutes during a single operation
Receives: Device: Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) probe

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Diagnostic accuracy of DRS probe to differentiate normal versus tumour tissue in vivo

    A user interface has been developed using Python 3.6 and Qt5 to integrate the acquisition and processing of the spectral data, as well as the tracking of the DRS fibre probe. Python 3.6 will be used for data processing, visualisation, Machine Learning classification and statistical analysis.

    A linear Support Vector Machine (SVM) will be used for classification of the spectral data.

    Machine Learning classifiers will be used for calculating sensitivity, specificity, overall accuracy and the area under the curve (AUC). Receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) curves will be plotted.

    In addition, one-dimensional convolutional neural networks will be developed and may be used.

    Real-time tissue classification will be presented on the user interface when using the DRS probe. Real-time tracking at each optical biopsy site coupled with the binary classification probability of each site will be visualised as either normal or tumour tissue using a graduated colour map.

    Measured: Through study completion - 2 years.

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Feasibility of DRS probe to differentiate normal versus tumour tissue in vivo

    The feasibility of the DRS probe will be assessed using the QUEST 2 or USE questionnaire. This will ascertain whether it is feasible to apply it as a tool in the surgical workflow in future randomised clinical trials.

    This will include understanding its usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning and satisfaction.

    The scale of the questionnaire will be qualitative from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree'.

    The questionnaire will be formed on Qualtrics platform and sent to theatre staff using the DRS probe and system via email.

    Measured: Over study period - 2 years

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted26 Apr 2023
  2. Study start20 May 2022
  3. Primary completion1 Jan 2024 (estimated)
  4. Study completion1 Apr 2024 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Diagnosis
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
All adult patients (\>18years of age) undergoing GI cancer surgery will be included in the study.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
20 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05830292
Sponsor's protocol ID
21SM7016
Status last verified
Jul 2023
First submitted
30 Mar 2023
Last updated
25 Jul 2023
Results posted
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Undecided: All data will be anonymised to protect patient identity.

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) probe in people with Gastrointestinal Cancer, run by Imperial College London at 1 site in United Kingdom.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 25 Jul 2023. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Results are not available in the source record.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Christopher Peters, PhD (020 3312 6666, christopher.peters@imperial.ac.uk), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Diagnostic accuracy of DRS probe to differentiate normal versus tumour tissue in vivo (time frame: Through study completion - 2 years.). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 25 Jul 2023.

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