An optical fiber sensor is being developed for diagnosis of human breast cancer cell lines. The sensor exploits laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy in conjugation with fiber optics. The main advantage of fluorescence detection compared to absorption measurements is the greater achievable sensitivity due to the fact that the fluorescence signal has a very low background. However, an accurate and sensitive method for the diagnosis of cancer cell lines is quit challenging. The sensitivity and accuracy of LIF technique can be improved by optimizing the sensor configuration. In this work, the spectral characteristics of the fluorescence, which was induced by frequency tripled Nd:YAG laser operating at 355nm are recorded from two different type of human breast cancer cell line. Effects of various influential experimental parameters and configuration were investigated in order to optimize the sensor performance. The sensor with optimum configuration enables to differentiate two types of cancerous cell lines with a maximum achievable fluorescence spectral contrast. A unique data processing technique has been developed to analyze the recorded data for cell lines identification and differentiation.

Date Published: 7 November 2005
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 5993, Advanced Environmental, Chemical, and Biological Sensing Technologies III, 59930C (7 November 2005); doi: 10.1117/12.630807

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5993:
Advanced Environmental, Chemical, and Biological Sensing Technologies III
Tuan Vo-Dinh; Robert A. Lieberman; Gunter Gauglitz, Editor(s)