A Multi-Modal Approach for Exploring Sarcoma and Carcinoma Using FTIR and Polarimetric Analysis

Ex vivo characterization of sarcoma and carcinoma tissue samples was evaluated using microscopy, optical polarimetry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and support vector machines (SVM). Recent evidence suggests that it is crucial to explore new diagnostic methods for detecting the smallest features of cancer. In this paper, we discuss the FTIR, which characterizes the chemical composition of sarcoma and carcinoma tissues at different wavenumbers. The FTIR spectra of sarcoma tissues exhibited significant differences in chemical composition (OH, CH, and NH) compared to carcinoma tissues (NH, CO and CH), particularly in the spectral range from 400 to 4000 cm^-1. Mueller matrix polarimetry (MMP) combined with polar decomposition was used to compare 13 polarimetric parameters in ex vivo sarcoma and carcinoma tissues across the visible spectrum (400-800 nm), revealing significantly higher values for all metrics in sarcoma samples. Microscopic analysis revealed distinctive morphological changes associated with sarcoma and carcinoma, contributing to these variations. All polarimetric features explored using SVM demonstrated promise for computer-assisted classification of the two tissue types. SVM successfully achieved an overall 90% accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. These results suggest that the combination of optical polarimetry and FTIR, along with SVM, holds significant potential for automated pathology classification of sarcoma and carcinoma.