SGER: Development of Minimally Invasive Optical Technique for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

本探索性研究的总体目标是开发一种新型的高分辨率光谱成像技术，该技术利用来自上皮组织的近反向弹性散射光，在细胞和亚细胞尺度上提取宏观组织组成以及组织结构的信息。85%的癌症起源于上皮组织，这种组织覆盖了身体的大部分内脏器官。尽管已经付出了巨大的努力来寻找识别早期癌前胰腺病变的方法，但目前可用的方法都没有显示出足够早地发现胰腺肿瘤以进行有效治疗的能力。技术优点：本应用涉及一种微创光学技术的发展，该技术可以早期检测原位胰腺癌的发生。据推测，全面测量弹性光散射，包括其光谱、角度和偏振特性，将能够检测胰腺的癌前病变。更广泛的影响：在这个项目中开发的技术可能首次使胰腺癌患者的筛查成为可能，从而显著降低这种疾病的死亡率。

0417689BackmanThe overall objective of the proposed exploratory study is to develop a novel high resolution spectroscopic imaging technique that utilizes light, elastically scattered from epithelial tissues in near backward direction, to extract information about macroscopic tissue composition as well as tissue structure at the cellular and sub-cellular scale. 85% of all cancers begin in epithelial tissue, the tissue that lines most of the internal organs in the body. Despite the significant effort that has been expended to find means to identify early precancerous pancreatic lesions, none of the currently available approaches has shown the capability to detect pancreatic neoplasms sufficiently early to allow effective treatment.Technical merit: This application addresses the development of a minimally invasive optical technique that may enable early detection of pancreatic carcinogenesis in situ. It is hypothesized that comprehensive measurement of elastic light scattering including its spectral, angular, and polarization properties will enable detection of precancerous lesions in the pancreas. Broader impact: The technique developed in this project may potentially enable, for the first time, screening of patients for pancreatic cancer and, thus, significantly reduce the mortality from this disease.