title: Investigation of normal and malignant laryngeal tissue by autofluorescence imaging technique.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  During oncogenesis significant changes in tissue properties occur that result in alteration of fluorescence characteristics of the tissue. The differences in autofluorescence between normal and malignant tissues offer new possibilities in detecting epithelial pathological lesions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of our study was to determine the usefulness of autofluorescence technique in diagnostic of laryngeal tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fluorescence in larynxes from 10 laryngectomized cancer patients was induced by excitation light at 360-450 nm wavelength. As a light source, mercury lamp and laser (404 nm) were used. The CCD camera captured the fluorescent light emitted. Normal epithelium and cancer tissue were also analyzed on fluorescence microscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Laryngeal carcinoma tissues when excited with ultraviolet or blue light generate attenuated or absent autofluorescence in the green light band compare with normal epithelium where strong signal around 505 nm was detected. Average value of maximal autofluorescence intensities was 26.2V (range 18-35) and 4.4V (range 2-8) in healthy and cancerously changed mucosa respectively. Spectral analysis revealed that autofluorescence signal from unchanged mucosa (around 505 nm) was significantly higher compared to cancer tissue (P=0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It seems that autofluorescence imaging may be a supplementary tool in diagnosis of laryngeal tumors.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Telecommunications and Acoustics, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Palasz
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grobelny
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pawlik
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fraczek
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zalesska-Krecicka
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klimczak
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Krecicki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D007828:Laryngoscopy; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation; D008875:Middle Aged; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence