Cancer surgery is tricky because you don’t want to miss any cancer, but you also don’t want to cut healthy tissue. Now doctors are testing a new technique that uses a safe chemical highlighter, allowing surgeons to cut by color.

Scientists are working on a new way to repair organs. Researchers group led by biological physicist Garbor forgacs of University of Missouri-Columbia are developing a three-dimensional printing technique that may one day be used to engineer replacement parts for worn-out or diseased organs.

While cancer of the pancreas is not one of the most common forms of cancer, it is one of the most challenging to treat. In this two-part program with Dr. H. Richard Alexander, viewers learn about the newest approaches to treating both pancreatic cancer and other forms of cancer in the gastro-intestinal tract.

Specific topics covered in part one of this two-part interview include:

The pancreas and its role in the body
Risk factors for pancreatic cancer
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer
Diagnosing pancreatic cancer

Open wide and say surgery? Though it may sound like science fiction, the UCSD Medical Center is conducting clinical trials of a cutting edge technique called Natural Orifice Surgery (NOTES). Patients have reported less recovery time, less pain, and less scarring. Mark Talamini, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at UCSD Medical Center joins David Granet, MD, to explain the wonders of this new minimally invasive procedure and where the future of surgery is going. Series: Health Matters [10/2008] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 14193]

This University of Washington program profiles an innovative surgical technique for maintaining the speech and language skills of a brain tumor patient. The program introduces viewers to Deborah Kelley, a remarkable patient who bravely allows a camera to follow her for several weeks, from her initial consultation at the UW Medical Center's Neurosurgery clinic and then into surgery. Deborah undergoes an awake surgery, which allows the neurosurgeon to pinpoint the exact location of her brain tumor, a technique called functional brain mapping.