Impedance-Based Detection of Cervical Lymph-Node Involvement in Thyroid Cancer Patients: A Human Model Study Publisher



Ataee H^{1, 2} ; Seraj M^{1, 3} ; Mahdavi R^{1, 2} ; Fardoost A¹ ; Shafiee A^{1, 4} ; Shamsi K^{1, 3} ; Fattahi M^{2, 5, 6} ; Ebrahiminik H^{7, 8} ; Hoseinpour P^{1, 9} ; Sane S¹⁰ ; Ghazimoghaddam M¹⁰ ; Akbari ME³ ; Abdolahad M^{1, 2, 6}
Source: Surgery Today Published:2025

Abstract

Purpose: Current diagnostic modalities for differentiating between benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes in patients with thyroid cancer are imprecise and time-consuming. The real-time intraoperative detection of malignancy in suspicious lesions could improve the medical management of these patients. This human study was undertaken to evaluate a precise, newly developed Electrical Lymph-Node Scanning (ELS) system to facilitate the effective treatment of cervical LNs in thyroid cancer patients. Methods: Using the ELS, we examined a collective 109 radiologically suspicious lymph nodes from 36 patients after dissection and compared the ELS results with the histopathological findings. Results: A total of 27 involved lymph nodes were correctly diagnosed, while 75 reactive or free lymph nodes were correctly identified as uninvolved lymph nodes by ELS (as 3 false negatives and 4 false positives) with total sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 94.9%, respectively. The corresponding negative and positive predictive values were 87.1% and 96.2%, respectively. Conclusions: Results from this clinical study demonstrate the value of the ELS as a surgical assist adjunct for differentiating equivocal lesions during neck dissection surgery for patients with different types of thyroid cancer. © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.