ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It’s a game changer in surgery. UNMH researchers are testing a new drug that makes nerves glow.
Dr. Ryan Orosco at UNM Hospital helped co-author the research into the drug. It is injected into the patient’s bloodstream before surgery. It makes the nerves glow like a highlighter, making it easier for doctors to see and not damage them during the procedure.
“It is absorbed by nerve tissue and highlights that nerve tissue during the surgery by making that nerve tissue glow so that the surgeon can see it better, see the nerves better, see smaller nerves, smaller branches of nerves, things like that,” said Dr. Orosco.
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“Most patients think that this technology is pretty cool. And when I talk to them about it and offer it to them as a potential research and clinical trial for them to participate in, they are pretty jazzed. They think that if their nerves can glow and it can help patients in the future, oftentimes they want to help contribute to science,” says Dr. Orosco…