Tuesday, January 11

ACES 2.402

James W. Tunnell, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

G.R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory

1:00 – 2:00 Optical Techniques for Treatment and Diagnosis of Disease (abstract below)

2:00 – 3:00 Research and Teaching (open to BME faculty only)

Optical Techniques for Treatment and Diagnosis of Disease

     Optical techniques are playing an increasingly significant role in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. This presentation focuses on two medical applications of optics: cutaneous laser therapy and optical spectroscopy for early cancer detection. 

     First, cutaneous laser therapy consisting of laser irradiation in conjunction with dynamic cooling provides a highly selective means to remove skin vascular disorders, such as port wine stain birthmarks. We investigated the dosimetry of this process using optical/thermal mathematical models and ex vivo and in vivo human skin. This work suggests that dynamic cooling allows for the use of much higher laser fluences, leading to improved efficacy and treatment of darker skinned patients.

     Second, optical spectroscopy provides for several benefits in the diagnosis of cancer.  Currently, diagnosis of precancerous and cancerous tissue requires tissue removal and examination by a pathologist. Optical spectroscopy (e.g. elastic scattering and fluorescence) offers a minimally-invasive, low-cost solution to identify changes in tissue biochemistry and morphology in vivo. We have developed a multimodal optical spectroscopic system to provide a real-time (< 4 s) spectral diagnosis (i.e. diagnosis of precancerous tissue using optical spectroscopy) without the need for tissue removal. We present results of the detection of precancer in patients with Barrett’s esophagus where real-time spectral diagnosis has the potential to guide biopsy and avoid unnecessary biopsy.

     These two applications, cutaneous laser therapy and optical spectroscopy, provide an important foundation for challenges related to disease detection and treatment.  As the diagnostic accuracy of optical techniques improve, the selective treatment of disease will become increasingly important, and combined strategies for both diagnosis and treatment of disease will be essential.