Developed by scientists at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, the new ultrasound technique is being hailed as the biggest breakthrough in the technology in over 60 years.

The team behind the method said it allows whole organs to be scanned in “super-resolution” and with its ability to pinpoint tumour exactly could one day replace the need for a biopsy in suspected cancer cases. Dr Vassilis Sboros, who led the research, described the process as being able to look inside the body with a microscope.

“In the future, this is the kind of picture we will all be looking at in the clinic. This is the first technology that can claim to have a near-microscopic quality,” he said.

The new technique works by injecting tiny bubbles that are roughly about the size of red blood cells into the bloodstream and scanning organs so that the blood flow can be shown with 0.05mm precision.

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By tracking the bubbles clinicians are able to look at blood vessels and flow, they are then able to map the networks that are enabling cancerous tumours to grow.

“What we can see is all these bubbles one by one – we see dots in the image,” Sboros explained.

“By joining the dots we end up with a picture that has much more detail and a lot more specific information.

“At the moment we can detect a few cancers with ultrasound but our new technique increases the confidence with which we can be sure whether something looks cancerous.

“We now need to do clinical trials on humans, but we may well be able to pick up cancers, such as pancreatic cancer and liver cancer, far earlier.”

Human trials of the method, which uses existing technology, are set to begin by the end of the year at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh. The new technique will not require the hospital to upgrade their current equipment.

Prostate cancer patients are being tested first because a patient’s gland is typically removed entirely during surgery. This means the accuracy of the image can be compared with the real thing.

Professor Alan McNeill, consultant urological surgeon at the Western General, said: “A method that maps the blood flow of the tumour accurately could well provide new information about the disease state that allows us to better identify those men who need urgent treatment and those who don’t.

“It is exciting that we will be the first hospital in the world that will assess this method with patients.”

The research was funded by a Science and Technology Facilities Council project, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council and the British Heart Foundation.