Raman spectroscopy in bladder cancer diagnosis

Abstract

Raman Spectroscopy can give a biochemical fingerprint of tissue and therefore could detect malignant changes in bladder tissue.

In the introduction the basics of bladder cancer diagnosis and Raman Spectroscopy and the current status of research in this field is described.

In chapter 2 we performed phantom measurements using a superficial probe which showed to measure more superficial and has a higher signal to noise ratio than a nonsuperfical probe. In chapter 3 this probe was tested in during cystoscopie. Thesignal to noise ratio, sensitivity and specificity of detecting urothelial carcinoma was higher for the superficial probe compared to the nonsuperficial probe. In chapter 4 we used this probe for 2D spatial measurements of a cystectomy specimen. In this chapter we found more uncertainty surrounding the tumor which could be explained by the fact that tissue surrounding the tumor is in transition into malignancy or that there is tissue heterogeniety. In chapter 5 we describe a bladder lesion registration and navigation tool. We tested it in a phantom model.