Quantitative optical imaging of early cervical cancer: mechanisms, methods, and clinical study

Abstract

The primary goals of this study are to improve the accuracy of noninvasive diagnosis of early cervical cancer. In this study, a novel 3-D optical imaging system based on active stereo vision and motion tracking is developed to track the motion of patient and to register the time-sequenced images of cervix recorded during the examination of colposcopy. This technology can quantify the acetic acid induced optical signals associated with early cancer development at cervix. The results of a preliminary clinical study of 65 patients demonstrate that the accuracy to differentiate pre-cancerous cervical tissue from normal tissue can be significantly increased.