Ex Vivo Assessment of Keratinocytic Carcinomas Using a Fast Mid-Infrared Probe

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Dermatology
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Keratinocytic cancer (KC) diagnosis relies on histopathology.
• Non-invasive diagnostic methods for skin cancer are needed.
• Mid-infrared spectroscopy offers potential for biochemical tissue analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of using mid-infrared (IR) spectroscopy to differentiate keratinocytic cancer (KC) from adjacent nonmalignant and normal skin tissue.
• To develop and validate a spectral model for KC detection.
• To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the developed model.

Main Methods:

• A fast mid-infrared spectral probe was employed to collect IR spectra from 150 fresh skin tissue samples.
• Tissue samples were obtained from patients undergoing Mohs surgery for biopsy-proven KC.
• A linear support vector machine model was utilized for spectral data analysis and classification.

Main Results:

• The IR spectral analysis successfully differentiated KC from nonmalignant and normal skin.
• The linear support vector machine model achieved a sensitivity of 93% ± 5% and specificity of 82% ± 6% for KC detection.
• The model demonstrated robust performance on a library of 150 patient tissue samples.

Conclusions:

• Mid-infrared spectroscopy is a promising non-invasive technique for differentiating keratinocytic cancer from normal skin.
• The developed spectral model shows high accuracy, warranting further investigation.
• Future studies should explore the application of this technique for diagnosing melanoma and other skin lesions in vivo.