The Ohio State University

James Coe

Edward W Martin

Charles L Hitchcock

Heather C Allen

Disclosed are systems and methods utilizing an infrared probe and discriminating software to rapidly discriminate abnormal tissue processes from normal tissue during surgery, physical examination of in-situ lesions, and in the assessment of biopsy and resected tissue specimens. Examples demonstrate discrimination of cancerous from noncancerous tissues. The discriminating software, i.e. the metrics, algorithms, calibrant spectra, and decision equations, allows tissue to be identified as abnormal or normal using a minimum of infrared (IR) wavelengths in order to be measured rapidly. The probe records IR metrics approximately 1000 times faster than current commercial instruments, i.e. on a timescale fast enough for clinical use. The probe uses a tunable mid-infrared laser with a small set of selected wavelengths that are optimized for detecting the chemical and molecular signatures of tissue specific lesions to include, but not limited to, cancer, preneoplasia, intracellular accumulations (e.g. steatosis), inflammation, and wound healing.

Discrimination of tissues using a fast infrared probe

System and method for the discrimination of tissues using a fast infrared cancer probe

Systems and methods utilize an infrared probe and discriminating software to rapidly discriminate normal tissue processes from normal tissue during surgery, physical examination of in-situ lesions, and in the assessment of biopsy and resected tissue specimens. Examples demonstrate discrimination of cancerous from noncancerous tissues. The discriminating software, i.e. the metrics, algorithms, calibrant spectra, and decision equations, allows tissue to be identified as abnormal or normal using a minimum of infrared (IR) wavelengths in order to be measured rapidly. The probe records IR metrics approximately 1000 times faster than current commercial instruments, i.e. on a timescale fast enough for clinical use. The probe uses a tunable mid-infrared laser with a small set of selected wavelengths that are optimized for detecting the chemical and molecular signatures of tissue specific lesions to include, but not limited to, cancer, preneoplasia, intracellular accumulations (e.g. steatosis), inflammation, and wound healing.

An etalon-based mid-infrared probe can be configured for spectroscopic tissue discrimination, such as between non-normal (e.g., cancerous) and normal (e.g., healthy) tissue. A broadband light source can be applied to the etalon to generate fringes at spectroscopic wavelengths of interest, which can be delivered to a tissue specimen via a fiber loop probe. A response signal can be spectral dispersed across a parallel array of detector pixels, such as using a diffraction grating, and signal processed for performing the tissue classification. A learning model can be trained, using full IR spectral data, for applying a reduced set of wavelengths for performing the spectroscopic tissue analysis and classification.

Growing community of inventors

Columbus, OH, United States of America

James Coe