A novel optical imaging method for the early detection, quantitative grading, and mapping of cancerous and precancerous lesions of cervix

This paper describes a novel optical imaging method for the irt ville early detection, quantitative staging, and mapping of cervical cancer and precan cer, A multispectral imaging system was developed, which is capable of perf orming time-resolved imaging spectroscopy. The system was used in order to assess quantitatively the alterations in the light scattering properties of the cervix, induced selectively and reversibly in cervical neoplasias, aft er the application of acetic acid solution. Spectral imaging and analysis o f cenix show that the maximum contrast between acetic acid responsive and n onresponsive areas is obtained at 525 +/- 15 nm, which is further enhanced by cutting off the regular component of tissue reflection, with the aid of two linear cross polarizers. Successive snapshot imaging at this spectral b and enables the quantitative assessment of the temporal alterations in the intensity of the backscattered light, in any spatial location of the examin ed area, Initial clinical trials show that optical contrast enhancement res ults in a notable improvement of the sensitivity in detecting incipient les ions, It was also shown that the measured temporal characteristics of the p henomenon contain specific information, which enables the differentiation b etween neoplastic and nonneoplastic lesions, as wed as between neoplasias o f different grade. The demonstrated improved sensitivity and specificity hi ghlight the potential of the method in both clinical research and noninvasi ve diagnosis.