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Millions of people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer yearly, and over 25,000 are here in Canada. Part of diagnosing certain types of cancers require pathologists to search for lymph nodes in resected cancer specimens by hand, which makes the process labour, time, and resource intensive. Crucially, given the limitations of human touch, smaller lymph nodes may be missed.

Matthew Cecchini, a medical doctor and assistant professor in pathology and laboratory medicine is part of a team of researchers that have developed a novel technology dubbed the Lymphonator. “I work as an anatomical pathologist specializing in pulmonary, head and neck and molecular pathology, and I also participate on the gastrointestinal and pediatric pathology teams. Additionally, I am interested in developing and utilizing digital pathology tools to enhance clinical practice,” said Cecchini.

The Lymphonator is a bench-top robotic scanning device that guides a hospital’s pathology team in efficient and reliable lymph node identification in surgically removed colorectal cancer tissues. This helps eliminate inefficiencies in the pathology workflow, optimize cancer care, and reduce healthcare costs.

The device has an ultrasound imaging tool that scans the surgically removed cancer specimen and identifies the lymph nodes for extraction. As the process has been automated, pathology staff can configure the device to perform the scan independently, freeing them up to perform their other clinical duties simultaneously. The device is also susceptible, detecting even the most minor lymph nodes resulting in higher accuracy in forming treatment decisions and lowering patient complications and mortalities.

The invention has been licensed by Tenomix Inc., a startup founded by a group of former Western Medical Innovation Fellows. At Tenomix, their vision is to be at the forefront of pathology innovation, ensuring pathology staff are equipped with the right tools that help provide the best patient care.

A Comprehensive Tool For Assessing Food Skills

Low food skills are barriers to healthy eating, while higher food preparation skills are associated with a better diet, including an increased intake of vegetables and fruits; a lower intake of calories, fat, and sugar; and a lower intake of fast food, all of which are associated with reduced risk for diet-related chronic diseases.

Various programs and interventions have been developed to improve food skills; however, methodological limitations, including non-experimental study designs, lack of follow-up data, and use of non-validated assessment tools, highlight the need for more stringent study designs and the development of validated measurement tools.

Researchers at Brescia University College at Western University have developed the Food Skills Questionnaire (FSQ), which is a comprehensive tool for assessing food skills in three domains (Food Selection and Planning, Food Preparation, and Food Safety and Storage) in individuals or groups with basic to intermediate food skills. The FSQ has supplementary questions which can boost the assessment of food skills to an advanced level.

The FSQ is a feasible and effective way to evaluate basic skills, such as peeling, chopping and slicing, to more intermediate skills, such as meal planning. It can also capture changes in domains, allowing the development of more focused nutrition education and skill-based interventions. Ultimately, higher food skills in the population could result in an increased intake of vegetables and fruits and fewer calories, fats, sugars, and fast-food consumption, potentially reducing the risk for chronic diseases.

The survey is helpful to various organizations focused on health promotion and education. The FSQ was successfully licensed to two organizations this year: a research institution and a primary care provider.

The survey is now being sold through WORLDiscoveries’ direct-to-market portal to establish a robust sales pipeline.