Optical Imaging of the Pulmonary Airways in the Assessment of Lung Cancer

描述（由申请人提供）：肺癌是癌症相关死亡的主要原因。鳞状细胞癌（SCC）发生于支气管粘膜，目前很难在疾病过程的早期发现。由于这个原因，它通常是先进的发现，为患者提供治愈的希望很小。该提案的研究重点是开发和测试一种准确的筛查和评估工具，用于肺气道鳞状细胞癌及其前驱病变的检测和诊断。希望通过早期发现、诊断和随后的治疗，可以大大降低与这种疾病有关的死亡率。本研究项目是基于一种新开发的光学成像技术，称为光学频域成像。对外直接投资是一种非侵入性成像技术，可提供分辨率与组织病理学相当的生物组织横截面图像。我们假设，对外直接投资将能够在微观分辨率下对肺气道进行全面成像，并根据所获得的图像，我们将能够准确区分和诊断SCC及其前驱病变。在该项目的指导阶段，将制定评估支气管病变的对外直接投资诊断标准，并将开发和测试定制的对外直接投资成像探头。在该奖项的独立阶段，将开发和测试一种采用激光打标的对外直接投资引导活检模式，随后将进行临床试验，以证明引导活检模式的可行性。研究培训将是指导阶段该奖项的核心组成部分，主要目的是为候选人提供肺部医学和病理学的坚实基础，以补充她在医学成像和生物医学光学方面的现有专业知识。培训将在马萨诸塞州总医院的韦尔曼光医学中心进行，由Guillermo Tearney和Brett Bouma博士指导，这两人都被认为是光学诊断的国际权威，并在Lahey诊所进行，由John Beams博士指导，他是介入肺医学的国际领导者。该培训将进一步补充哈佛医学院和马萨诸塞州总医院的正式课程。K99/ROO奖所支持的培训和研究贡献将有助于Melissa Suter博士成为一名成功的独立研究者。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death. Arising in the bronchial mucosa, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is currently difficult to detect early in the disease process. For this reason it is typically well advanced upon discovery providing patients little hope of cure. The research focus of this proposal is to develop and test an accurate screening and assessment tool for the detection and diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, and its precursor lesions, in the pulmonary airways. It is hoped that through early detection, diagnosis and consequent treatment the mortality rate associated with the disease can be greatly reduced. This research project is based on a newly developed optical imaging technique termed optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI). OFDI is a noninvasive imaging technology that provides cross-sectional images of biological tissues in resolutions comparable with histopathology. We hypothesize that OFDI will be capable of comprehensively imaging the pulmonary airways at microscopic resolutions and, based on the acquired images, we will be able to accurately differentiate and diagnose SCC and its precursor lesions. During the mentored phase of this award, OFDI diagnostic criteria for the evaluation of bronchial pathology will be established, and a custom OFDI imaging probe will be developed and tested. In the independent phase of the award, an OFDI guided-biopsy paradigm with laser marking will be developed and tested, and a subsequent clinical trial to demonstrate the feasibility of the guided-biopsy paradigm will be conducted. Research training will be a core component of this award proposal during the mentored phase with the primary purpose of providing the candidate with a strong foundation in pulmonary medicine and pathology to supplement her existing expertise in medical imaging and biomedical optics. Training will take place at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital under the mentorship of Drs Guillermo Tearney and Brett Bouma, both considered international authorities in optical diagnostics, and at the Lahey Clinic under the direction of Dr. John Beams, an international leader in interventional pulmonary medicine. This training will be further supplemented with formal coursework at Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital. The training and research contributions supported by this K99/ROO award will serve to establish Dr. Melissa Suter as a successful independent investigator.