Safer sentinel node procedure for head and neck region

Thanks to a unique combination of innovative techniques, like SPECT-CT, a portable gamma camera, and a hybrid tracer (fluorescent and radioactive), specialists at the Netherlands Cancer Institute are able to remove the right lymph nodes from the head and neck region with increased safety, precision, and reliability. 

Sentinel node procedures are complex procedures because there are many lymph nodes found in the head and neck region, as is the facial nerve, the shoulder nerve, and some large blood vessels. By using a hybrid tracer, it is much easier to trace the correct lymph node with increased accuracy, which means that the patient will only need one injection in this highly sensitive area.