Fluorescent peptide research could prevent nerve damage in surgery

Scientists have created a new type of injectable fluorescent peptide that could be used to make small nerves more visible during surgery.

A team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have developed a peptide that binds to peripheral nerve tissue and creates a clear visual contrast with adjacent non-nerve tissues for up to eight hours.

Tests with mice show that this can be accomplished with no observable effects on the activity of the nerves or on the behaviour of the subject.

Should this prove to be usable among human patients, it could help surgeons to avoid accidental damage to thin or buried nerves, a serious concern in current medical procedures of all kinds.

Dr Quyen Nguyen, assistant professor of head and neck surgery at the university and the study's corresponding author, said this can be particularly useful if the nerves have been invaded by a tumour or distorted by trauma or infection.

Last August, researchers at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh conducted research into a new method of turning tumour cells fluorescent so they can be more easily removed.