Comparison between ultraviolet-visible and near-infrared elastic scattering spectroscopy of chemically induced melanomas in an animal model

Abstract

The work reported compares elastic scattering spectroscopy (ESS) for diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions in two spectral regions: UV-visible and near infrared (NIR). Given the known strong absorption by melanin in the near-UV to mid-visible range of the spectrum, such a comparison can help determine the optimum wavelength range of ESS for diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions. For this purpose, four South American opossums are treated with dimethylbenz(a)anthracene on multiple dorsal sites to induce both malignant melanomas and benign pigmented lesions. Skin lesions are examined in vivo with ESS using both UV-visible and NIR, with wavelength ranges of 330 to 900 nm and 900 to 1700 nm, respectively. Both portable systems use the same fiber optic probe geometry. ESS measurements are made on the lesions, and spectral differences are grouped by diagnosis from standard histopathological procedure. Both ESS datasets show strong spectral trends with the histopathological assignments, and the data suggest a model for the underlying basis of the spectral distinction between benign and malignant pigmented nevi.

Diagnosis and Demarcation of Skin Malignancy Using Elastic Light Single-Scattering Spectroscopy: A Pilot Study

“…9 Another technique used to obtain information about tissue pathology is detecting single-scattered rather than diffused light from tissue. Photons scatter several times in tissue during their journey between the light source and the detector.…”

“…In addition, patients may prefer noninvasive techniques for cosmetic reasons. Spectroscopic techniques such as fluorescence spectroscopy, 2,3 confocal microscopy, 4 optical coherence tomography, 5,6 Raman spectroscopy, 7,8 and, light-scattering spectroscopy 9 have been used to differentiate cancerous tissues from normal skin based on physical variation of tissue structure or biochemical alterations of tissue components.…”

Infrared Imaging in Diagnosis of Dysplastic Nevi and Malignant Melanoma

“…This system has long been used for the detection of melanocytes on the skin. [9][10][11][12] Images using various spectral bands from 420 to 1040 nm to enhance the ABCD criteria has been shown to improve the accuracy of detecting melanoma. [13][14][15] In our series for this purpose 47 pigmented lesions of thirty-nine patients were evaluated.…”

Intra-operative brain tumor detection using elastic light single-scattering spectroscopy: a feasibility study

“…[12][13][14][15][16] With current spectroscopic techniques, light is delivered with one source fiber to the tissue and detected with another fiber. 14,17 Because detected photons undergo multiple scattering events, the spectrum of the detected light reflects both scattering and absorption properties of the surrounding tissue. The spectrum of the diffused light from the source fiber to the detection fiber depends on absorption and scattering of the light by tissue.…”