title: Light scattering from cervical cells throughout neoplastic progression: influence of nuclear morphology, DNA content, and chromatin texture.
abstract: A number of noninvasive fiber optic optical technologies are under development for real-time diagnosis of neoplasia. We investigate how the light scattering properties of cervical cells are affected by changes in nuclear morphology, DNA content, and chromatin texture, which occur during neoplastic progression. We used a Cyto-Savant computer-assisted image analysis system to acquire quantitative nuclear features measurements from 122 Feulgen-thionin-stained histopathologic sections of cervical tissue. A subset of the measured nuclear features was incorporated into a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) model of cellular light scattering. The magnitude and angular distribution of scattered light was calculated for cervical cells as a function of pathologic grade. The nuclear atypia strongly affected light scattering properties. The increased size and elevated DNA content of nuclei in high-grade lesions caused the most significant changes in scattering intensity. The spatial dimensions of chromatin texture features and the amplitude of refractive index fluctuations within the nucleus impacted both the angular distribution of scattering angles and the total amount of scattered light. Cellular scattering is sensitive to changes in nuclear morphology that accompany neoplastic progression. Understanding the quantitative relationships between nuclear features and scattering properties will aid in the development of noninvasive optical technologies for detection of precancerous conditions.
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Bioengineering Department, Houston, Texas 77251, USA. drezek@rice.edu
authors.forename: Rebekah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Drezek
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guillaud
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Collier
authors.forename: Iouri
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Boiko
authors.forename: Anais
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malpica
authors.forename: Calum
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macaulay
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Follen
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Richards-Kortum
mesh_terms: D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000473:pathology; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D006801:Humans; D019044:Image Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D008027:Light; D055100:Optical Fibers; D027383:Papillomaviridae; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002575:Uterine Cervicitis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D004247:DNA