Quantitative optical biomarkers of lung cancer based intrinsic two-photon excited fluorescence signal

Abstract

Alterations in the elastic fibers have been implicated in lung cancer. However, the label-free, microscopic imaging of elastic fibers in situ remains a major challenge. Here, we present the use of intrinsic two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) signal as a novel means for quantification of the elastic fibers in intact fresh human lung tissues. We obtained the TPEF images of elastic fibers from ex vivo the human lung tissues. We found that three features, including the elastic fibers area, the elastic fibers orientation, the elastic fibers structure, provide the quantitative identification of lung cancer and the direct visual cues for cancer versus non-cancer areas. These results suggest that the TPEF signal can be used as the label-free optical biomarkers for rapid clinical lung diagnosis and instant image-guided surgery.