Processes of intraoperative diagnosis and elimination of tumors or micro-tumors or cancer cells or tumor micro-environment (TME) with plasmonic nanobubbles (PNBs) are disclosed. The diagnosis and surgical processes disclosed can improve standard onco-surgery through one or more of the following: real-time intraoperative local detection of MRD in vivo with high cancer sensitivity and specificity； real-time guidance of surgery to precisely eliminate resectable MRD with minimal morbidity by resecting only PNB-positive volume instead of a larger volume； intraoperative selective elimination of unresectable MRD through the mechanical impact of lethal cancer cell-specific PNBs without damaging adjacent normal cells and tissues； and prediction of the surgical outcome through the metrics of PNB signals.
