We report the results of feasibility studies on using digital imaging of the laser-induced autofluorescence of colonic tissues for a detection of premalignant and malignant lesions of human colon. Images of the autofluorescence excited with 325 nm line of He-Cd laser were recorded in vitro in six regions of a visible spectrum using a CCD camera. A total of 126 areas on 30 tissue specimens was examined. At all the spectral bands selected the intensity of the fluorescence of the neoplastic tissues was lower than that of the normal mucosa. The ratio R of the intensities of the autofluorescence of normal and abnormal tissues measured with the 440 nm filter was found to be a sensitive diagnostic parameter for detecting adenocarcinomas. This parameter is less sensitive in detecting adenomatous polyps and does not differentiate polyps with different degrees of dysplasia.

Date Published: 11 July 2001
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 4515, Light and Optics in Biomedicine, (11 July 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.432962

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4515:
Light and Optics in Biomedicine
Maksymilian Pluta; Anna Cysewska-Sobusiak, Editor(s)