A novel instrument for the analysis of urine for the nonA novel instrument for the analysis of urine for the non-invasive detection of bladder cancer-invasive detection of bladder cancer

Can we detect and monitor bladder cancer with a urine test? For many patients with bladder cancer (BC), their cancer comes back after treatment and so they have to be regularly checked. These patients are checked with a cystoscope. This is a long thin flexible tube with a light and a camera at the end that is inserted into the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the body) and up into the bladder. The camera shows the inside of the bladder and the doctor can make a diagnosis. This method of diagnosis (cystoscopy) can be uncomfortable for the patient and is expensive to the NHS. This project aims to find out if a new laboratory method could be used instead. The test needs to be able to tell the difference between tumour cells and other things in the urine like regular cells shed into the urine by the normal action of the bladder and germs that are not due to these cancers. To do this we will shine UV and visual light at samples which mimic urine samples and take a video of the samples flowing. We have a new better way of doing this that will give us sharper images of the cells, especially in the UV light, and allow us to look at bigger samples up to 50 ml. Computer software will then take the data from the instrument and tell us information about the cells. We hope to be able to tell the difference between tumour cells, normal cells and blood cells and reduce the number of cystoscopies that patients need in future.