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Cancer diagnostics: Light scattering by pancreatic cysts

Nature Biomedical Engineering volume 1, Article number: 0060 (2017) Cite this article

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Pancreatic cysts can be detected via the optical-scatter patterns of these submicroscopic sack-like pockets of tissue.

The value of the information from the submicroscopic scattering of light for the classification of tissue is most promising in disease areas for which obtaining biopsies can be logistically difficult or the results indeterminate. The classification of pancreatic lesions as pancreatic cysts or carcinoma is one such case. Because the outcome of such diagnosis can be dire, the need for better tools for in situ sampling is incredibly high. Pancreatic cystic neoplasms are difficult to assess because of the inhomogeneity of the tissue, owing to the cystic space usually being filled with mucin and necrotic remnants of cells4. Also, it is often difficult to obtain histological information from cystic structures, as cellular material is problematic to aspirate and the amount of neoplastic tissue in the cyst may constitute only a small amount of the total surface area. There is also a need to approach several different areas of the cyst wall to ensure adequate sampling, and this can also be technically difficult. Typically, cyst-fluid aspiration is associated with a 1% diagnosis of pancreatitis and a total complication rate of 2.2%5. The fluid is aspirated to obtain biomarkers of neoplasia, such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and neoplastic cells. Moreover, pancreatic diseases present substantial architectural changes in both the epithelial and stromal composition of the tissue. These structural fluctuations manifest as small changes in the index of refraction. It is these submicroscopic changes in refractive-index shape that have a characteristic impact on the scattered-light patterns and spectra.

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Figure 1: Light scattering off tissue bears a complex spatial relationship to the tissue itself and to the geometry of the beam detector.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. and in the Departments of Surgery and Physics, Brian W. Pogue is in the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, 14 Engineering Drive, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA.,

    Brian W. Pogue

  2. Kenneth K. Wang is in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55902, USA.,

    Kenneth K. Wang

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  1. Brian W. Pogue
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  2. Kenneth K. Wang
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Correspondence to Brian W. Pogue.

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Pogue, B., Wang, K. Cancer diagnostics: Light scattering by pancreatic cysts. Nat Biomed Eng 1, 0060 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-017-0060

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