Angle resolved light scattering through a multimode fiber for measuring cell nuclei morphology

该项目将创造使用光纤检查组织以寻找癌症早期迹象的新方法。虽然光学检测早期癌症已经被证明，但还没有一种可以被临床医生轻易使用的技术。这一新方法将比以前的方法更简单，成本更低，因此将通过在临床上更多地使用光学方法来检测早期癌症，从而提供社会效益。拟议的项目将开发一种基于角度分辨光散射的新方法来检测早期癌症。这种新方法的独特之处在于，不是测量组织表面不同角度的散射，而是使用一根单一的多模光纤来收集所有的角散射，然后使用计算方法重建角分布。该方法将通过利用对细胞核散射分布的了解，特别是它形成环形图案的知识，简化测量和分析。这项工作的一个关键建议进展将是，通过利用简化的测量和引入实时校准方法，即使在光纤移动时，例如在内窥镜检查过程中，也能够使用光纤。该方法将通过测量培养的癌细胞中扩大的细胞核来展示。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will create new methods of using optical fibers for examining tissue for early signs of cancer. Although optical detection of early cancer has been shown, there has yet to be a technology that can be readily used by clinicians. This new method will be simpler and less costly to build than previous approaches and thus will provide a societal benefit by enabling greater use of optical methods for detecting early cancer in the clinic.The proposed project will develop a novel approach for detecting early cancer based on angle resolved light scattering. The unique aspect of this new approach is that rather than measuring scattering at different angles at the tissue surface, instead a single, multimode fiber will be used to collect all of the angular scattering and then computational methods will be used to reconstruct the angular distribution. The approach will permit simplified measurements and analysis by using knowledgeof the distribution of scattering from cell nuclei, specifically that it forms ringed patterns. A key proposed advance of this work will be to enable use of the fiber even when it is moved, for example during an endoscopy procedure, by leveraging the simplified measurements and introducing a real time calibration method. The approach will be demonstrated by measuring enlarged nuclei in cultured cancer cells.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.