Neurosurgeons need all the help they can get to remove brain cancer tumors. If they leave cancer cells behind, the tumors can regrow. Finding cancer cells can be particularly difficult with infiltrative cancers such as glioma, which invades surrounding brain tissue.

C’est l’histoire d’une belle aventure scientifique, celle d’un jeune chercheur québécois passionné d’astrophysique qui a conçu une caméra ultrasensible permettant de détecter les photons émis par des exoplanètes situées à des années-lumière de nous. Mais le plus étonnant est que cette technologie qu’il a imaginée pour sonder l’infiniment grand sert aussi à voir l’infiniment petit, comme des cellules cancéreuses enfouies dans le cerveau.

With the contribution made by Yoann Gosselin, recent graduate in Biomedical Engineering at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal, brain cancer treatment is leaping forward. Taking advantage of Nüvü Camēras’ HNü unique performances, he significantly heightened the sensitivity of a technique used in the removal of cancerous cells in the brain, renowned as being the most effective to this day. Combined with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, this novel treatment will provide a better prognosis for brain cancer patients whose current life expectancy remains very limited.

The prospects of photon-counting imaging are as diverse as they are promising. From space-debris monitoring, to telecommunication satellites and shuttle missions, to the advent of powerful surgical tools, which could help cancer patients through the precise removal of malignant tissues, its applications are numerous and expanding.

Photon counting reveals its strengths in extremely low-light conditions, where other imaging techniques fail to provide valuable data. This is true for all things infinitely distant or infinitely small.