Handheld Multiphoton Imaging Device for Detecting Oral Cancer

根据加拿大癌症协会的数据，口腔癌的5年存活率只有63%。加拿大每年发现4600例新病例，全世界发现30万例，平均有一半患者在确诊后5年内死亡。口腔癌术后复发率高达20%。因此，迫切需要新的技术来提高口腔癌的早期发现和治疗。在本项目中，将开发一种新的基于多光子成像的结肠癌点成像设备，以提供活体和实时的高分辨率口腔粘膜病变成像。多光子成像可以提供癌症检测的重要生物标志物的可视化：肿瘤细胞和细胞核的形态变化，以及促进肿瘤细胞进展和侵袭的潜在胶原纤维的密度和排列。在动物模型的临床前癌症研究中，它已经被证明是非常成功的。将多光子成像转化为临床应用才刚刚开始。挑战包括处理飞秒脉冲和有限的信噪比。我们将解决这些挑战，并设计一种手持探头的便携式多光子系统，用于对口腔粘膜进行活体成像。将在患者身上进行在体成像，以评估该设备用于引导活检和肿瘤边缘检测。这项新技术可以通过对肿瘤进行实时非侵入性评估，并指导决定何时何地进行活检以早期发现癌症，从而改善癌症管理。

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the 5-year survival rate for oral cancer is only63%. Each year 4,600 new cases in Canada and 300,000 cases worldwide are identified andon average, half of the patients die within 5 years of diagnosis. The recurrence rate of oralcancer after surgery is high at 20%. Therefore, there is a critical need for new technology thatcan improve the early detection and treatment of oral cancer. In this project, a new point-ofcarecancer imaging device based on multiphoton imaging will be developed to provide highresolutionimaging of oral mucosa lesions in vivo and in real-time. Multiphoton imaging canprovide visualization of important biomarkers for cancer detection: the morphological changesof tumor cells and nuclei, and the density and ordering of the underlying collagen fibers whichfacilitates the progression and invasion of tumor cells. It has been demonstrated to be verysuccessful in pre-clinical cancer studies on animal models. Translating multiphoton imaginginto clinical applications is just beginning. Challenges include handling femtosecond plusesand limited signal to noise ratio. We will address those challenges and design a portablemultiphoton system with a handheld probe for performing in vivo imaging of the oral mucosa.In vivo imaging on patients will be carried out to evaluate the device for guided biopsy andtumor margin detection. The new technology can improve cancer management by real-timeassessment of tumor noninvasively and guiding decisions on when and where to takebiopsies for early cancer detection.