Tiny microscope ‘could speed up breast cancer treatment and cut waiting lists’

The device is able to produce images from inside the tissue with “unprecedented speed”, the team said.

New endo-microscope is the diameter of 25 human hairs (Imperial College London/PA)

A tiny microscope that can be manoeuvred through small spaces inside the body during surgery could speed up breast cancer treatment and help cut hospital waiting lists, according to the scientists who created it.

Experts from Imperial College London have developed an endo-microscope that is less than 1mm in diameter – about the width of 25 human hairs – and is designed to be inserted into the body to provide views of tissue and organs.