OPTICAL BIOPSY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL OF SMOKERS: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

<h3>Objectives</h3> Compare saliva between smoking and nonsmoking patients by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy as an optical biopsy technique and associate with data processing methods based on artificial intelligence. It will be possible to investigate biochemical changes at the molecular level and in the future use it for early diagnosis of oral cancer. <h3>Study Design</h3> This study was approved by the research ethics committee and was conducted using FT-IR spectroscopy coupled with and attenuated total reflection accessory. Volunteers were divided into 3 groups; however, only 10 patients were analyzed as a pilot study. In the control group, saliva of volunteers who had never tried tobacco (5 samples) was collected. The smoking group consisted of patients over 40 years old who smoke more than one pack of cigarettes a day (1 sample). The sporadic smoking group included patients who smoke sporadically (4 samples). <h3>Results</h3> In all groups, the structural components DNA, RNA, lipids, proteins, and amide were assessed. The spectra showed different intensities in the respective structural components mentioned above, so that subtle differences could prove that the saliva of smoking patients exhibits differences from saliva of nonsmoking patients. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Optical biopsy and artificial intelligence could be used in the medical field.