Spectrometry for Cancer Detection

A new real-time, noninvasive cancer-detection spectrometry system is currently undergoing clinical trials.

The CancerScanner technology uses an Ocean Optics (Dunedin, FL, USA) system consisting of light source, probe, and spectrometer to identify changes of cells from normal to precancerous and cancerous conditions in the human body rather than in the laboratory.

Developed by the Bioscience division of the U.S. Departmental of Energy, the technology has been licensed to, and additionally developed by, SpectralPath Technologies (Plantation, FL, USA). It is hoped that this technology will allow clinicians to screen patients rapidly, providing immediate diagnoses, without requiring invasive and time-consuming biopsies for cervical, skin, colorectal, and esophageal cancers.

The focus of the system is a USB2000 palm-sized spectrometer. It is utilized to assess the elastic light scattering (ELS) spectrum generated by cellular nuclei. An LS-1 tungsten halogen light source and single optical fiber probe are used to illuminate the tissue surface. The probe then captures the resulting ELS spectrum. Larger nuclei and precancerous cells cause different ELS spectra from normal nuceli. The technology has been successfully tested in both animals and humans for a variety of cancers. It is small, lightweight, and economically feasible for physician offices, hospitals, and patient service centers.

Ocean Optics is a supplier of optical sensing technology including chemical sensors, spectrometers, metrology instrumentation, optical fibers, and thin films and optics. The company invented miniature fiberoptic spectroscopy.






Related Links:
Ocean Optics
SpectralPath Technologies