Multimodal autofluorescence detection of cancer: from single cells to living organism

摘要

Multimodal optical imaging of suspected tissues is showing to be a promising method for distinguishing suspected cancerous tissues from healthy ones. In particular, the combination of steady-state spectroscopic methods with time-resolved fluorescence provides more precise insight into native metabolism when focused on tissue autofluorescence. Cancer is linked to specific metabolic remodelation detectable spectroscopically. In this work, we evaluate possibilities and limitations of multimodal optical cancer detection in single cells, collagen-based 3D cell cultures and in living organisms (whole mice), as a representation of gradually increasing complexity of model systems.