4 research outputs found
Laser induced autofluorescence for diagnosis of non- melanoma skin cancer
Non melanoma skin cancer is one of the most frequent malignant tumors
among humans. A non-invasive technique, with high sensitivity and high
specificity, would be the most suitable method for basal cell carcinoma
(BCC) or other malignancies diagnostics, instead of the well established
biopsy and histopathology examination. In the last decades, a
non-invasive, spectroscopic diagnostic method was introduced, the laser
induced fluorescence (LIF), which could generate an image contrast
between different states of skin tissue. The noninvasiveness consists in
that this biophotonic method do not require tissue sample excision, what
is necessary in histopathology characterization and biochemical analysis
of the skin tissue samples, which is worldwide used as an evaluation
gold standard.
The object of this study is to establish the possibilities of a
relatively portable system for laser induced skin autofluorescence to
differentiate malignant from nonmalignant skin lesions. Unstained human
skin samples, excised from humans undergoing biopsy examination, were
irradiated with a Nd: YAG-3 omega laser (lambda= 355 nm, 6 ns), used as
an excitation source for the autofluorescence measurements. A portable
fiber-based spectrometer was used to record fluorescence spectra of the
sites of interest.
The ex vivo results, obtained with this spectroscopic technique, were
correlated with the histopathology results. After the analysis of the
fluorescence spectra of almost 60 skin tissue areas, we developed an
algorithm to distinguish different types of malignant lesions, including
inflammatory areas. Optimization of the data analysis and potential use
of LIF spectroscopy with 355 nm Nd: YAG laser excitation of tissue
autofluorescence for clinical applications are discussed