The Laser and Ultrasound Co-analyzer for Thyroid Nodules (LUCA) better diagnoses thyroid cancer, according to a release issued by the European Society of Radiology (ESR).
The device, which includes near-infrared light, time-resolved spectroscopy, diffuse correlation spectroscopy, and ultrasound, has recently been used in the clinical environment and is showing potential for identifying nodules as benign or malignant. These cases were considered unclear using ultrasound scans.
LUCA was tested on 65 patients, classified 13 benign and four malignant nodules with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 77%, according to the ESR release.
In 2016, the LUCA project, which was funded by the European Union, was tasked to develop a device that could better diagnose thyroid cancer because there was no other accurate way to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors.
