Quantification of tissue oxygenation levels using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

Tumor growth is characterized by increased metabolic activity. The light absorption profile of hemoglobin in dysplastic tissue is different from a normal tissue. Neovascularization is a hallmark of many diseases and can serve as a predictive biomarker for the detection of cancers. Spectroscopic techniques can provide information about the metabolic and morphological changes related to the progression of neoplasia. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) measures the absorption and scattering properties of a biological tissue and this method can provide clinically useful information for the early diagnosis of epithelial precancers. We used tissue simulating phantoms with absorbing and scattering molecules for the determination of total hemoglobin concentration, hemoglobin oxygen saturation and intensity difference between the deoxy and oxy hemoglobin bands. The results show promising approach for the differentiating normal and malignant states of a tissue. © 2011 SPIE.