Photonic Probe with Fluorescent Tissue Marking for Cervical Lesions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for detecting and marking cancerous or precancerous tissue in cervical cancer are subjective, prone to observer variations, and lack permanent marking capabilities, making it difficult to accurately excise malignant tissue while preserving healthy tissue, especially in the endocervix.
Innovation Solution
A photonic probe apparatus that decouples detection and marking using electromagnetic radiation and electronic data analysis, allowing for objective classification and permanent marking of precancerous tissue with techniques like diffuse optical spectroscopy and luminescent dyes, enabling precise excision procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If acetowhitening is used to mark cancerous tissue, then tissue can be visually marked, but the marking is transient and changes during excision providing no direct feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs fluorescent dyes that emit light at specific wavelengths when excited, creating permanent visual markers on tissue. This fluorescent color change provides stable, lasting marking that does not fade or change during excision, allowing continuous visual feedback to the physician throughout the procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time optical feedback by detecting fluorescent signals from marked tissue during excision. This allows the physician to immediately see which tissue has been marked and verify complete removal, eliminating the delay of waiting for histopathology reports while maintaining marking stability.
2Ease of operation
If a physician relies on colposcopy images and acetowhitening to identify lesions, then visual assessment is possible, but interpretation is subjective with large observer-to-observer variations
Solution Approach 1:
Fluorescent dyes provide distinct, bright coloration of marked tissue that is easily distinguishable from surrounding normal tissue. This objective visual contrast eliminates subjective interpretation issues, as the fluorescent marking provides clear, unambiguous boundaries that all observers can identify consistently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces subjective visual assessment with objective optical detection using fluorescent markers and spectroscopic analysis. This substitution of mechanical/visual methods with optical detection systems provides precise, quantifiable measurement of lesion boundaries, eliminating observer variability.
3Measurement precision
If acetowhitening is used to detect precancerous tissue, then tissue with increased nuclear protein can be identified, but the method provides only information about visually assessable tissue and not deep endocervical lesions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses fluorescent dyes as intermediaries that can penetrate and mark tissue deeper than visual assessment methods. These dyes bind to tissue components and provide optical signals that can be detected through tissue, enabling identification of lesions in the endocervix that are not visually accessible with conventional colposcopy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces direct visual assessment with optical detection of fluorescent signals. This allows detection of tissue properties and markers that are not visible to the naked eye, including deep endocervical lesions, by using light interaction with tissue rather than direct visual inspection.
4Productivity
If a physician performs excision without direct visualization of lesion extent, then excision can be performed, but the physician is virtually blind regarding deep lesion extension into the endocervix
Solution Approach 1:
The fluorescent marking system provides continuous real-time feedback during excision by maintaining visible fluorescent signals on marked tissue. This allows the physician to immediately verify complete removal of marked tissue, ensuring excision completeness while maintaining procedural efficiency through clear visual guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The persistent fluorescent coloration of marked tissue provides ongoing visual feedback throughout the excision procedure. This color change and persistence allows the physician to track the extent of marked tissue and verify complete excision, eliminating the blindness to deep lesion extension while maintaining surgical efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The photonic probe apparatus provides objective and permanent marking of precancerous tissue, reducing observer variability and ensuring accurate excision of malignant tissue, even in hard-to-reach areas like the endocervix, by using quantitative data analysis and specific marking substances.
Implementation Method 1
a light source (12) connected to the probe for illuminating tissue, and a light sensor (13) connected to the probe to receive and detect light collected from the tissue region
Implementation Method 2
an analyzing unit (14) connected to the light sensor (13) for determining whether a threshold measure of probability of a cancerous or precancerous lesion in the probed tissue region
Implementation Method 3
a tissue marking facility having an output (26) integrated in the probe, wherein the tissue marking facility is activated to mark the tissue region through the probe
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a photonic probe apparatus and a method for probing tissue to detect and mark biological tissue with cancerous or precancerous states. The apparatus involves a probe for illuminating tissue and collecting light from an illuminated tissue region through the probe, a unit for analyzing collected light to determine whether a threshold measure of probability of a cancerous or precancerous lesion in the probed tissue region in contact with the probe is exceeded, and an integrated tissue marking facility which can be activated to mark the probed tissue region through the probe when the threshold measure is exceeded. The photonic probe apparatus and the method are especially suitable for probing regions in squamous and columnar epithelia to detect and mark regions with cervical cancer or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN).