“For us users, pooling knowledge is advantageous because the many individual systems of the path to successful removal of the breast cancer can potentially be coordinated with one another.

For example, I would like the imaging to be better tailored to the localization of the markers. In the daily routine, it is a great advantage to detect the marker under ultrasound before surgery. This saves time and we avoid additional radiation exposure for the patient. In order to use the ultrasound routinely, however, the sequences have to be further developed as well as the markers themselves. We could tackle this task together with SOMATEX and HOLOGIC.“

Unmet needs are on the agenda

The further development of ultrasound is just one example that Sherko Kuemmel counts as one of the so-called unmet needs of his discipline. “In order to understand what really helps the diagnostician, us surgeon, but above all our patients, we need contact persons who know the entire diagnosis and surgical preparation path and companies that map it. Together with SOMATEX , we have set up many important studies in the past, for example with the Tumark Vision marker, which have led to new standards in the treatment process. For example, the fact that the markers are now routinely set. This significantly improved the detection rate and, as a result, the success of the resection. I would like to see such productive collaborations in the future as well.”

The team in Essen is currently benefiting from the introduction of Faxitron: The HOLOGIC device for specimen radiography is located directly in the operating room; long ways to radiology are a thing of the past. “The time savings and the quality gain that we were able to achieve with Faxitron are immense,” says the surgeon.

“Future developments require extensive and in-depth know-how and, of course, the necessary resources to approach such large topics as 3D visualization. Against this background, it was a wise decision by both companies to walk the path together in the future.”