Fractal dimension of time-resolved autofluorescence discriminates tumour from healthy tissues in the oral cavity.
Early detection and complete resection of oral carcinomas is of crucial importance for patient survival. This could be significantly improved by developing a non-invasive, sensitive and real-time detection technique. Time-resolved autofluorescence measurement is state-of-the-art technology originally developed for non-destructive inspection of material. In this study, we measured time-resolved autofluorescence in tumours and healthy tissues of the oral cavity ex vivo and calculated the corresponding fractal dimension which was significantly higher in tumours than in healthy tissues (1.8 vs. 1.6, P < 0.001, unpaired t-test) with non-overlapping 95% confidential intervals 1.88-1.84 and 1.57-1.69, respectively. Very high specificity (86%) could be reached at 100% sensitivity. The area under the curve was 99%, further suggesting the superior prediction potential of fractal dimension based on time-resolved autofluorescence spectra.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Jan
J
Klatt
Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing, Laboratory of Optical Diagnostics, Dresden, Germany.
Carola E
CE
Gerich
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Alexander
A
Gröbe
Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing, Laboratory of Optical Diagnostics, Dresden, Germany.
Jörg
J
Opitz
Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing, Laboratory of Optical Diagnostics, Dresden, Germany.
Jürgen
J
Schreiber
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Henning
H
Hanken
Martiniclinic, Prostate Cancer Center, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Georg
G
Salomon
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Max
M
Heiland
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: kluwe@uke.de.
Lan
L
Kluwe
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Marco
M
Blessmann
D019540:Area Under Curve; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005453:Fluorescence; D005544:Forecasting; D017709:Fractals; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation; D013997:Time Factors
Fractal dimension; Oral squamous cell carcinoma; Real-time cancer cell detection; Surgical margins; Time-resolved ﬂuorescence spectra