PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MODELING USING THE INFRARED IMAGING METHOD

Imaging plays an important role in the identification of prostate cancer (PCa). However, a shortcoming of the current imaging techniques is their inability to detect PCa at an early stage of development when tumor volume is small. This led us to explore new and improved imaging methods. The phenomenon that infrared (IR) light penetrates biological tissues caused our efforts to utilize IR rays for PCa visualization. The aim of this study was to conduct model experiments to demonstrate how IR light could be used in the future to detect PCa in vivo.

Experiments were carried out on prostates obtained after radical prostatectomy. The study was approved by the ethical commission of the Georgia-Israel Joint Clinic "Gidmedi". We developed a device that uses IR light to illuminate a prostate from the inside. In order to get IR images of the prostate, we developed a device with an IR-sensitive charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The model experiments showed that the intensity of IR light passing through noncancerous and malignant prostate tissues is significantly different allowing their distinguishment. The visualization device can detect PCa lesions as small as several millimeters.

These results suggest that our device could be useful for the detection of small PCa lesions.