The best option for treatment of lung cancer today is surgery. However, Dr. Chris Zhang, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan College of Engineering is part of a team working on creating a non-invasive tool to remove lung cancer tumours.

Dr. Zhang says the surgical process still takes many difficult weeks for the patient to completely recover from due to the invasive nature of the operation. He is working with four other researchers from a variety of disciplines to develop new treatment aside from open surgery and microwave ablation.

Zhang’s method eliminates penetration of the skin altogether and instead suggests a device that could be threaded down the airway through the nose or mouth, to eliminate tumours using microwave ablation. This means the probe has to be small, soft and flexible.

The project has received funding from the Saskatchewan Health Research Fund’s (SHRF) Solutions program, which supports interdisciplinary health research projects that address prevalent health issues in the province.