Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 28, 2025
Tissue-simulating Phantoms for Assessing Potential Near-infrared Fluorescence Imaging Applications in Breast Cancer Surgery
Published on: September 19, 2014
Rapid assessment of breast tumor margins using deep ultraviolet fluorescence scanning microscopy
Tongtong Lu1, Julie M Jorns2, Mollie Patton2
1Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Milwauk, United States.
Significance:
Re-excision rates for women with invasive breast cancer undergoing breast conserving surgery (or lumpectomy) have decreased in the past decade but remain substantial. This is mainly due to the inability to assess the entire surface of an excised lumpectomy specimen efficiently and accurately during surgery.
Aim:
The goal of this study was to develop a deep-ultraviolet scanning fluorescence microscope (DUV-FSM) that can be used to accurately and rapidly detect cancer cells on the surface of excised breast tissue.
Approach:
A DUV-FSM was used to image the surfaces of 47 (31 malignant and 16 normal/benign) fresh breast tissue samples stained in propidium iodide and eosin Y solutions. A set of fluorescence images were obtained from each sample using low magnification (4 × ) and fully automated scanning. The images were stitched to form a color image. Three nonmedical evaluators were trained to interpret and assess the fluorescence images. Nuclear-cytoplasm ratio (N/C) was calculated and used for tissue classification.
Results:
DUV-FSM images a breast sample with subcellular resolution at a speed of 1.0 min / cm2. Fluorescence images show excellent visual contrast in color, tissue texture, cell density, and shape between invasive carcinomas and their normal counterparts. Visual interpretation of fluorescence images by nonmedical evaluators was able to distinguish invasive carcinoma from normal samples with high sensitivity (97.62%) and specificity (92.86%). Using N/C alone was able to differentiate patch-level invasive carcinoma from normal breast tissues with reasonable sensitivity (81.5%) and specificity (78.5%).
Conclusions:
DUV-FSM achieved a good balance between imaging speed and spatial resolution with excellent contrast, which allows either visual or quantitative detection of invasive cancer cells on the surfaces of a breast surgical specimen.
Insights
A new deep-ultraviolet scanning fluorescence microscope (DUV-FSM) accurately detects invasive breast cancer cells on excised tissue surfaces. This technology offers high sensitivity and specificity, improving surgical outcomes for lumpectomy patients.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical optics
- Surgical pathology
- Medical imaging technology
Background:
- Substantial re-excision rates persist for invasive breast cancer after lumpectomy.
- Current methods struggle with efficient and accurate assessment of excised lumpectomy specimen surfaces.
- Inability to fully assess specimen surfaces contributes to residual cancer and repeat surgeries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a deep-ultraviolet scanning fluorescence microscope (DUV-FSM).
- To enable accurate and rapid detection of cancer cells on excised breast tissue surfaces.
- To improve the assessment of surgical margins during breast-conserving surgery.
Main Methods:
- Developed and utilized a DUV-FSM for imaging fresh breast tissue samples (n=47).
- Samples were stained with propidium iodide and eosin Y, then imaged using automated low-magnification scanning.
- Fluorescence images were stitched, and nonmedical evaluators assessed them, calculating nuclear-cytoplasm ratio (N/C) for classification.
Main Results:
- DUV-FSM achieved rapid imaging (1.0 min/cm²) with subcellular resolution and excellent contrast.
- Fluorescence images clearly distinguished invasive carcinomas from normal tissue based on visual characteristics.
- Nonmedical evaluators achieved high sensitivity (97.62%) and specificity (92.86%) in distinguishing cancer; N/C ratio showed reasonable performance (81.5% sensitivity, 78.5% specificity).
Conclusions:
- DUV-FSM effectively balances imaging speed and spatial resolution for breast cancer detection.
- The technology provides excellent contrast for identifying invasive cancer cells on surgical specimens.
- DUV-FSM enables both visual and quantitative detection of cancer cells, potentially reducing re-excision rates.
More Related Videos
09:31High-Speed Ultraviolet Photoacoustic Microscopy for Histological Imaging with Virtual-Staining assisted by Deep Learning
Published on: April 28, 2022
09:42Assessing Tumor Microenvironment of Metastasis Doorway-Mediated Vascular Permeability Associated with Cancer Cell Dissemination using Intravital Imaging and Fixed Tissue Analysis
Published on: June 26, 2019