Faculty Collaboration Database

Mobile fiber-optic sensor for detection of oral and cervical cancer in the developing world. Methods Mol Biol 2015;1256:155-70

Date

01/30/2015

Pubmed ID

25626538

DOI

10.1007/978-1-4939-2172-0_11

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84958658193 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)

Abstract

Oral and cervical cancers are a growing global health problem that disproportionately impacts women and men living in the developing world. The high death rate in developing countries is largely due to the fact that these countries do not have the appropriate medical infrastructure and resources to support the organized screening and diagnostic programs that are available in the developed world. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) with a fiber-optic probe can noninvasively quantify the optical properties of epithelial tissues and has shown the potential as a cost-effective, easy-to-use, and sensitive tool for diagnosis of early precancerous changes in the cervix and oral cavity. However, current fiber-optic DRS systems have not been designed to be robust and reliable for use in developing countries. They are subject to various sources of systematic or random errors, arising from the uncontrolled probe-tissue interface and lack of real-time calibration, use bulky and expensive optical components, and require extensive training. This chapter describes a portable DRS device that is specifically designed for detection of oral and cervical cancers in resource-poor settings. The device uses an innovative smart fiber-optic probe to eliminate operator bias, state-of-the-art photonics components to reduce size and power consumption, and automated software to reduce the need of operator training. The size and cost of the smart fiber-optic DRS system may be further reduced by incorporating a smartphone based spectrometer.

Author List

Yu B, Nagarajan VK, Ferris DG

Author

Bing Yu PH.D. Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Biomedical Engineering department at Marquette University

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Cell Phone
Cervix Uteri
Developing Countries
Epithelial Cells
Female
Fiber Optic Technology
Global Health
Humans
Male
Mouth
Mouth Neoplasms
Software
Spectrum Analysis
Telemedicine
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms