Chesham-based Lightpoint Medical has received the CE mark approval for the first robotic gamma probe to be commercially available to European hospital systems.

SENSEI has been designed for intra-operative detection of sentinel lymph nodes, as well as cancer metastasis through the lymphatic system.

The technology promises more precise, targeted cancer surgery and is applicable across a range of major cancer types, including lung, colorectal, stomach, gynecological, and prostate cancer.

CEO Dr David Touch said: “Lightpoint is developing the most advanced intra-operative cancer detection technologies.

Securing CE Mark for SENSEI is an important milestone in our efforts to transform cancer surgery and underscores our commitment to meet surgeon’s needs for miniaturised cancer detection tools as robotic platform technologies grow to dominate surgical practice.

“SENSEI promises accurate real-time cancer detection for robot-assisted cancer surgery. Currently, surgeons have no way to precisely detect cancer intra-operatively. As a result, millions of patients suffer every year as cancer is frequently left behind or healthy, functional tissue is needlessly removed.”

Robotic surgeon Dr. Jim Adshead, of the Lister Hospital, East and North Herts NHS Trust, added: “I am very excited about regulatory approval for SENSEI® and now eager to start using it in surgery.

“I have been closely involved in the development of the technology since early usability testing and I’m extremely hopeful for its potential in advancing the treatment of prostate cancer.”

The device was successfully registered with the FDA in September 2020.