Towards non-invasive screening of skin lesions by near infrared spectroscopy

A noninvasive tool for skin tumor diagnosis would be a useful clinical adju nct. The purpose of this study was to determine whether near-infrared spect roscopy can be used to noninvasively characterize skin lesions. In vivo vis ible- and near-infrared spectra (400-2500 nm) of skin neoplasms (actinic ke ratoses, basal cell carcinomas, banal common acquired melanocytic nevi, dys plastic melanocytic nevi, actinic lentigines, and seborrheic keratoses) wer e collected by placing a fiberoptic probe on the skin. Paired t tests, repe ated measures analysis of variance and linear discriminant analysis were us ed to determine whether significant spectral differences existed and whethe r spectra could be classified according to lesion type. Paired t tests show ed significant differences (p < 0.05) between normal skin and skin lesions in several areas of the near-infrared spectrum. In addition, significant di fferences were found between the lesion groups by analysis of variance. Lin ear discriminant analysis classified spectra from benign lesions compared w ith premalignant or malignant lesions with high accuracy, Near-infrared spe ctroscopy is a promising noninvasive technique for the screening of skin le sions.