Project develops sensing for tissue diagnosis
Integrated Spectrometers for Spectral Tissue Sensing (InSPECT) is designing a miniature broadband LED-based light source to help identify cancerous tumours or other medical conditions.
By developing photonic building blocks for low-cost, miniaturised spectral sensing devices and investigating how they could be integrated into clinically useful tissue analysis devices, InSPECT hopes to allow for smoother clinical applications than current instrumental systems may allow.
Project co-ordinator Jean Schleipen said: “InSPECT is not aiming to develop spectral sensing methods as such, but is concerned with miniaturisation of the optical technologies involved in procedures like diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.
“Making systems smaller and more compact would be advantageous, ultimately opening the path to new mobile applications using spectral sensing.”
The project is currently halfway through its three-year time span. One of its main goals is to develop the broadband LED-based light source as an alternative to bulky and inefficient halogen sources.
Schleipen said: “The other goal is miniaturisation of the spectrometer platform itself.
“At present no single commercial instruments are available that cover the full spectral range of interest.”
InSPECT envisages its technology ultimately being used to carry out real-time spectroscopy on tissue specimens obtained during biopsy procedures, giving immediate feedback to a physician during an intervention.
Other possible applications include agricultural monitoring, or in consumer markets, where handheld devices capable of measuring spectral fingerprints would naturally benefit from extensions to the wavelengths being monitored.
Schleipen added: “Our vision is that in a longer timescale, say in five to ten years, we have an optical method to carry out broadband spectroscopy in a very small compact chip that could then be integrated into portable medical devices or in mobile phones.”
