Multi-modal miniature microscopes for detection of pre-cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates that 1,220,100 people will be diagnosed with cancer in 2000 resulting in 552,200 deaths. Despite significant advances in treatment, early detection of cancer and its curable precursors remains the best way to ensure patient survival and quality of life. Thus, highly sensitive and cost-effective screening and diagnostic techniques to identify curable pre-cancerous lesions are urgently needed. Pre-cancers are characterized by molecular and morphologic changes that include increased nuclear size, increased nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio, hyperchromasia and pleomorphism. These changes currently can only be assessed through invasive biopsy. Early detection of curable pre-cancers has the potential to significantly lower cancer mortality and morbidity. Many visual exam procedures, such as colonoscopy and bronchoscopy, are routinely used to identify premalignant changes and early cancers; however, these techniques do not assess the microscopic and/or molecular changes which are the hallmark of pre-cancer. Thus, these techniques' sensitivity and specificity are limited. The multi-modal miniature microscope system described in the paper represents a fundamentally new way of approaching pre-cancer detection. By integrating micro-optical systems, miniature light sources and molecular markers of pre-cancer, we achieve a high level of sensitivity and specificity in a miniaturized, cost-effective package.