Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : COMPUTERIZED THERMAL IMAGING (COII)- research only -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: chirodoc who wrote (82)	2/15/1999 12:27:00 AM
From: chirodoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 256

OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY OF BREAST BIOPSIES AND HUMAN BREAST CANCER XENOGRAFTS IN NUDE MICE [Frontiers in Bioscience 3, a1-10, January 1, 1998] Fay A. Marks General Electric Corporate Research and Development, One Research Circle, Niskayuna, NY 12309 Received 11/25/97 Accepted 12/5/97 2. INTRODUCTION Conventional X-ray mammography is the 'gold standard' for breast cancer imaging. It is currently unmatched in its ability to detect and diagnose cancer in symptomatic and asymptomatic women. However, X-ray mammography has a number of limitations which reduce its effectiveness under certain conditions. A case in point is the radiographically dense breast which poses a significant problem to the radiologist. The reason for this is that tumors are typically as radiodense as normal fibroglandular tissue and there is very little fat present in the dense breast to provide contrast on the X-ray mammogram. This makes it very difficult to return a diagnosis with a high degree of confidence. Current clinical solutions to this particular problem include additional X-ray views, supplemental ultrasound, and correlation with breast physical exam. New technologies like optical biomedical imaging are being investigated as possible solutions to this and other breast imaging issues. The major approaches to optical biomedical imaging include Phase Modulation Spectroscopy (1-2), Time Resolved Spectroscopy (3-6), Optical CT (7) and Ultrasound Assisted Optical Imaging (8-11) with applications ranging from hypoxic brain injury to neonatal monitoring to breast cancer imaging. Some researchers are pursuing the differences found between the native fluorescence (12-15) and absorption of normal tissue and carcinoma as the basis for cancer discrimination, while others are investigating the utility of exogenous contrast agents. All optical avenues to breast cancer imaging have their pros and cons. This researcher has chosen the road without contrast agents because the subpopulation of symptomatic women who cannot tolerate contrast agents is growing, making it imperative that alternatives to contrast agent-based breast imaging be vigorously pursued. GE is using ultrasound-assisted optical imaging as the basis for a spectroscopy-at-a-voxel imager in an attempt to combine imaging with spectroscopy for greater detection efficacy, and, to address the problem of the radiodense breast. It is expected that contrast in this system will, in the main, be provided by spectral discrimination. The work reported here deals only with the spectroscopic component of the system, and investigates the potential of optical spectroscopy as a functional imaging tool, by looking at the In vitro and In vivo optical responses of breast biopsies and human breast cancer xenografts in the visible and near infrared wavelength regions. This paper will show that light can provide tissue characterization in the radiographically dense breast. The benefits of such a diagnostic tool using non-ionizing radiation are self evident.