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Abstract

A method and apparatus for examining a two-dimensional region of a tissue sample. This is accomplished, according to one embodiment of the invention, by illuminating, i.e., exciting, the two-dimensional tissue sample with light at a first wavelength. The resultant fluorescence is then measured at an emission wavelength as a function of location within the two-dimensional tissue sample. The two-dimensional tissue sample is then illuminated again with light at a second wavelength, and the resultant fluorescence is measured at the same emission wavelength. The two excitation wavelengths and the emission wavelength are appropriately chosen so that the ratio or difference of fluorescence intensities at the emission wavelength is indicative of the carcinomatous condition of the tissue. A value, such as a ratio or difference, of the respective intensity measurements obtained at each location of the tissue sample is then calculated. These values are then compared to appropriate standards, and the results are depicted in the form of a map. The invention is premised on the discovery that certain native, commonly-occuring molecules, such as collagen, NAD+/NADH, NADP+/NADPH, flavins, tryptophan, and elastin, fluoresce differently in cancerous tissue than in non-cancerous tissue.

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First Claim