A structured light-based system for scanning subcutaneous tumors in laboratory animals

Tumor size or volume is often the primary endpoint in preclinical efficacy studies of anticancer drugs. Efficient and accurate measurement of such tumors is crucial to rapid evaluation of novel drug candidates. Currently available techniques for acquiring high-throughput data on tumor volume are time-consuming and prone to various inaccuracies and errors. The laser-scanning technology we describe here provides a convenient, high-throughput system for tumor measurement that reduces interoperator variability and bias while providing automated data collection, processing and analysis.