Evaluation of Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy as a Potential Noninvasive Breath Diagnostic for Breast Cancer
Abstract
Every woman over 50 is recommended to have mammograms to monitor for breast cancer, The goal is to detect breast cancer as early as possible. The problem with the technique are well known and range from the exposure to X-rays, the difficulty of analysis, to patient resistance. Normal human breath contains a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A number of these VOCs have been identified as candidate markers of various cancers (e.g. formaldehyde in breast cancer). Although breast analysis has been shown to have great potential as a diagnostic tool, most of the compounds of interest are exhaled in picomolar concentrations. Real-time breath analysis for these compounds is not possible with existing technology. Cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) measurement of the rate of absorption of a sample within a closed optical cavity, rather than the standard measurement of the obsorbed signal strength over a given sample path. It maintains much of the simplicity of classical absorption spectroscopy, but has been demonstrated to provided an increase in sensitivity of up 10,000 times. The objective is to evaluate the potential of CRDS to provided real-time formaldehyde concentrations in exhaled breath for the purpose of the detection of breast cancer.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA431741
Entities
People
- George P. Miller
Organizations
- University of Tulsa