An Improved Bio-Optical Method for Tumor Detection and Classification
Abstract
Optical approaches to breast cancer (BC) detection show promise over conventional methods because they have potential to work in the denser tissue of younger patients and because they do not use ionizing radiation which has been shown to induce cancer in some patients. Three technologies will be combined in this effort. (a) Optical probing, using controlled light at specific wavelengths, is becoming a respected approach to cancer tumor detection. A much-published RADAR-based method known as frequency-domain photon migration (FDPM) gives very high sensitivity. (b) "Spectral fingerprint" analysis of fluorescence emission is the basis for cancer and precancer classification affecting surface cells. This has been shown for cervical and lung cancers. (c) Reading images, such as x-ray films, allows the tumor to stand out relative to the "expected" complex image of the breast. An optical hardware system was envisioned and preliminary testing performed. Hardware was to be based on using technically similar systems used in unrelated industrial applications to make hardware development affordable. Specific systems were identified. Ultimately, collaborators could not be found to modify their systems, and system development proved to be prohibitively costly. Discussions with other researchers has provided a voice for this approach within the community, paving the way for valuable contributions to BC detection.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA411445
Entities
People
- James G. Leatham