Researchers probe esophageal cancer with nine optical modalities
Kevin Robinson
For esophageal cancer, as with most cancers, early diagnosis and
treatment is the most effective way to handle the disease. For this type of cancer,
physicians look for lesions that could be malignant by using an endoscope to examine
the lining of the esophagus and take random biopsies of suspicious sites. However,
this method has some drawbacks: Doctors sometimes miss lesions or biopsy the wrong
area, the procedure takes time, and the biopsies are uncomfortable for the patient.
Scientists from the University of California
at Davis’ Center for Biophotonics and Medical Center in Sacramento and at
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are working on an instrument that could
one day be used in conjunction with conventional endoscopes. It would use multiple
optical modalities to classify lesions according to their risk of malignancy, directing
the need for additional sampling or other intervention, said Stavros G. Demos, a
researcher at both the university and the national laboratory. This type of instrument
could increase the efficiency and comprehensiveness of malignancy screening, he
added.
The instrument would use nine modalities
based on near-infrared imaging techniques using either emitted or scattered light.
“This approach offers key benefits as a guidance tool during exploratory or
therapeutic procedures,” Demos said. Near-IR light is absorbed less by blood,
which reduces interference when used in living tissue and which allows it to penetrate
further into tissue than shorter wavelengths. This allows deeper tissue to be interrogated.
He said that because near-IR images
can be separated from the visible image, both can be acquired and displayed simultaneously.
This allows the technology to mesh more easily with current techniques because doctors
are trained to use a conventional color video image for endoscopy.
But before starting on the instrument
itself, the researchers had to determine whether combining the modalities would
provide the sensitivity and specificity needed for this type of screening. To do
so, they used three lasers for illumination: a HeNe laser at 632.8 nm and two diode
lasers from Edmund Scientific, at 532 and 405 nm. They also used a broadband white-light
source equipped with three bandpass filters centered at 700, 850 and 1000 nm, with
bandwidths of 40 nm. The research was published in the March 20 issue of
Optics
Express.
By combining nine optical techniques, researchers could more accurately
predict whether an esophageal lesion was high- or low-risk than by using an individual technique
alone. They used laser sources at 408, 532 and 633 nm to excite autofluorescence
in images A, B and C, respectively. To collect parallel and cross-polarized
scattering, they used light from a filtered broadband source to illuminate the sample
at 700 nm (D and E, respectively), 850 nm (F and G) and 1000 nm (H and I). The researchers
also created degree-of-polarization images for the respective wavelengths (J,K and
L). Reprinted from Optics Express.
To collect the images, the researchers
used a CCD camera from Princeton Instruments. A longpass filter with a cut-on wavelength
of 700 nm was placed in the acquisition path to filter out any short wavelength
emission. They also used a removable polarizer in the acquisition path to choose
parallel or orthogonal polarization.
For each sample, they collected three
tissue autofluorescence images, each with a different laser illumination. They
used the white light and filter wheel to make tissue scattering measurements —
three parallel polarization images and three orthogonal polarization images. They
combined the two sets to create three-degrees-of-polarization images.
According to Demos, using three lasers
helped them find the optimal excitation wavelength for tissue classification with
high sensitivity. The 700-, 850- and 1000-nm filters roughly cover the spectral
region that is suitable for imaging biological tissues and enabled them to test
for optimal contrast. The parallel and orthogonal polarization could help to
increase sensitivity and specificity.
The researchers tested the system on
freshly acquired biopsies from human patients. The equipment was situated just outside
the examination room so that the autofluorescence images could be acquired immediately,
and the results were compared against histological readings by trained pathologists.
The system acquired all nine images in less than two minutes; however, increasing
the laser power might reduce the acquisition time to a few seconds.
The investigators imaged 40 sample
sets consisting of 18 normal biopsies and eight noncancerous lesions (or 26 low-risk
samples) and 14 cancerous lesions deemed at high risk. At its best, the system correctly
classified 12 of the 14 high-risk samples and 25 of the 26 low-risk samples. Analysis
indicated that the combination of modes provided information not available from
a single mode.
They theorize that the three classification
errors could have resulted from the relatively wide field of view, which imaged
the entire microscope slide at once. In addition, each set of biopsies was reduced
to a mean image intensity for each imaging modality. A cancerous lesion might not
be large enough to affect the mean image intensity. Analyzing the images with higher
spatial resolution might overcome this problem.
Demos said that the team will work
on developing a prototype that can be used in endoscopy to further test
the technology and determine its accuracy for tissue classification and margin delineation
in vivo.
LATEST NEWS
- CLEO Heads to the East Coast
Apr 29, 2024
- Laser-Based Gas Analyzer Developed to Detect Air Pollution
Apr 29, 2024
- Qubits Could be Stored in Flash-Like Memory
Apr 29, 2024
- Exail Signs LLNL Contract, Partners with Eelume
Apr 26, 2024
- Menlo Moves U.S. HQ: Week in Brief: 4/26/2024
Apr 26, 2024
- Optofluidics Platform Keys Label-, Amplification-Free Rapid Diagnostic Tool
Apr 25, 2024
- DUV Lasers Made with Nonlinear Crystals Enhance Lithography Performance
Apr 25, 2024
- Teledyne e2v, Airy3D Collaborate on 3D Vision Solutions
Apr 24, 2024