Technologies

Conventional imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) provide surgeons with a great deal of information about a tumor’s anatomy but cannot distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous cells. Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TRFS) has shown promise in the imaging of biopsies of brain tumor, oral carcinoma, and atherosclerosis but currently requires a minimum of several seconds (and up to a few minutes) of off-line fluorescence decay analysis due to the large number of data points collected. While such an approach show-cases the potential of TRFS, it also presents a hurdle which prevents TRFS from being used as a real-time tissue diagnostic tool.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a novel technique for continuous acquisition, processing, and display of fluorescence lifetimes. This technique allows for rapid and non-invasive real-time tissue diagnosis through a single hand held or biopsy fiber-optic probe. TRFS has been found to be less sensitive to the presence of endogenous absorbers (such as blood) or changes in light excitation collection.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a novel technique for continuous acquisition, processing, and display of fluorescence lifetimes. This technique allows for rapid and non-invasive real-time tissue diagnosis through a single hand-held or biopsy fiber-optic probe.