NICE recommends Magtrace technology – a ‘metal detector’ for breast cancer

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended an innovative magnetic technology - Magtrace - to detect sentinel lymph nodes, which can help surgeons determine whether breast cancer has metastasized. The Magtrace and Sentimag system (Endomag), comprises a magnetic liquid tracer (Magtrace) and a handheld magnetic sensing probe (Sentimag). Magtrace is injected into the tissue around a tumor whereby it becomes trapped in the sentinel lymph nodes, acting as both a magnetic marker and a visual dye. The Sentimag probe emits different pitches as it passes over the Magtrace tracer, allowing for the surgeon to confidently detect...