An Infrared Absorbance Sensor for the Detection of Melanoma in Skin Biopsies

An infrared (IR) absorbance sensor has been designed, realized and tested with the aim of detecting malignant melanomas in human skin biopsies. The sensor has been designed to obtain fast measurements (80 s) of a biopsy using a small light spot (0.5 mm in diameter, typically five to 10 times smaller...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2016-10, Vol.16 (10), p.1659-1659
Main Authors: Fioravanti, Valeria, Brandhoff, Lukas, van den Driesche, Sander, Breiteneder, Heimo, Kitzwögerer, Melitta, Hafner, Christine, Vellekoop, Michael J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorbance
absorbance spectroscopy
Biopsy
Biopsy - methods
Biosensing Techniques - methods
Fourier transforms
Health sciences
Histopathology
Humans
Infrared detectors
infrared sensor
Investigations
Melanoma
Melanoma - diagnosis
Monochromators
Radiation
Risk analysis
Sensors
Skin (anatomy)
Skin - pathology
skin biopsy
Skin cancer
Spectra
Spectrum analysis
Stretching
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Summary:An infrared (IR) absorbance sensor has been designed, realized and tested with the aim of detecting malignant melanomas in human skin biopsies. The sensor has been designed to obtain fast measurements (80 s) of a biopsy using a small light spot (0.5 mm in diameter, typically five to 10 times smaller than the biopsy size) to investigate different biopsy areas. The sensor has been equipped with a monochromator to record the whole IR spectrum in the 3330-3570 nm wavelength range (where methylene and methyl stretching vibrations occur) for a qualitative spectral investigation. From the collected spectra, the CH₂ stretch ratio values (ratio of the absorption intensities of the symmetric to asymmetric CH₂ stretching peaks) are determined and studied as a cancer indicator. Melanoma areas exhibit different spectral shapes and significantly higher CH₂ stretch ratios when compared to healthy skin. The results of the infrared investigation are compared with standard histology. This study shows that the IR sensor is a promising supportive tool to improve the diagnosis of melanoma during histopathological analysis, decreasing the risk of misdiagnosis.
ISSN:1424-8220
1424-8220
DOI:10.3390/s16101659