LIGHT-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPYAND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHYOF BASAL CELL CARCINOMA

摘要

Many up-to-date optical techniques have been developed and applied recently in clinical practicefor obtaining qualitatively and quantitatively new data from the investigated lesions. Due to theirhigh sensitivity in detection of small changes, these techniques are widely used for detectionof early changes in biological tissues. Light-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIFS) is one ofthe most promising techniques for early detection of cutaneous neoplasia. Increasing number ofrecent publications have suggested that optical coherence tomography (OCT) also has potentialfor non-invasive diagnosis of skin cancer. This recent work is a part of clinical trial procedurefor introduction of LIFS technique into the common medical practice in National OncologicalMedical Center in Bulgaria for diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer. We focus our attentionhere on basal cell carcinoma lesions and their specific features revealed by LIFS and OCTanalysis. In this paper we prove the efficiency of using the combined LIFS-OCT method inskin lesions studies by integrating the complimentary qualities of each particular technique. ForLIFS measurements several excitation sources, each emitting at 365, 385 and 405 um maxima areapplied. An associated microspectrometer detects in vivo the fluorescence signals from humanskin. The main spectral features of the lesions and normal skin are discussed and their possibleorigins are indicated. OCT images are used to evaluate the lesion thickness, structure andseverity stage, when possible. The obtained results could be used to develop a more completepicture of optical properties of these widely spread skin disorders. At the same time, our studiesshow that the combined LIFS-OCT method could be introduced in clinical algorithms for earlytumor detection and differentiation between normal/benign/malignant skin lesions.