Compact fluorescence spectroscopic tool for cancer detection

We describe a compact fluorescence spectroscopic tool for in vivo point monitoring of aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) fluorescence and autofluorescence, as a non-invasive method of differentiating normal and cancerous tissue. This instrument incorporates a 405nm diode laser with a shutter to prevent exposure of tissue to harmful light doses and reduce photobleaching, a bifurcated optical fibre to allow illumination of tissue and collection of fluorescence with a single fibre, a compact grating spectrometer for collection of spectra and a PC for system control. We present spectra obtained using this system both during routine gastro-intestinal (GI) endoscopy for cancer detection and during photodynamic therapy (PDT) of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) for monitoring of treatment progress. These results illustrate the potential of the system to be used for fluorescence monitoring in a variety of clinical applications.