Optical Diagnosis In OBGYN
Optical Devises in OBGYN
Dr. L.T. Perelman is Director of the Biomedical Imaging and Spectroscopy Laboratory in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at BIDMC and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Previously, he was Principal Scientist at MIT, where his research interest was using optical spectroscopy to diagnose disease. He conceived and developed biomedical light scattering spectroscopy (LSS), which has recently been applied to non-invasive detection of early precancerous changes in epithelial tissues and tissue characterization on the sub-cellular scale. His present research interests involve the application of optics to obstetrics, prenatal diagnosis, fetal medicine, cell biology, and early detection of gynecological cancers. His Laboratory currently is supported by NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant, another NSF project grant, and two NIH R01 grants.
Optical Spectroscopic Technique for Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis
This project, supported by an upcoming NIH R01 grant, may facilitate development of clinically useful methods for fNRBC enrichment and recovery from peripheral maternal blood, leading to minimally invasive prenatal genetic testing.
Studying Sub-Cellular Morphology of Human Embryo Cells with Confocal Light Absorption and Scattering Spectroscopic Microscopy
Confocal Light Absorption and Scattering Spectroscopic (CLASS) Microscopy is a novel way to use optical imaging techniques for non-invasive monitoring of embryonic cells on the submicron scale with no exogenous labels. CLASS microscopy combines the principles of light scattering spectroscopy (LSS) with confocal microscopy. The human embryo development and response to environmental factors could be monitored progressively at all critical stages using CLASS microscopy. This project has been supported by NIH and NSF.
Optical Detection of Preinvasive Cancer of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tracts
The purpose of this program is to develop a diagnostic screening tool to rapidly survey cervical tissue and determine regions of dysplasia and carcinoma in real-time. This technology will be capable of distinguishing between adenocarcinoma, high-grade dysplasia, and low-grade dysplasia. Suspicious areas could then be biopsied and the diagnosis verified. This approach is vastly superior to the present strategies of performing biopsies. Thus, it will provide a powerful tool for screening large populations of patients for early precancerous changes. The instrument we are developing is based on the technique of light scattering spectroscopy (LSS), which has been demonstrated in a proof-of-principle study to be able to perform such measurements in the epithelial tissue of different organs of gastrointestinal and reproductive tracts. The advantages of the technique are that it greatly simplifies the time and labor involved in performing screening and obtaining diagnoses, causes less patient discomfort, requires fewer biopsies, and can help the pathologist to base the diagnosis on uniform quantitative criteria, making the diagnosis more consistent. Because of these advantages, it should vastly improve the probability of detecting potential malignancies in the early stages, when cures are possible, and it should be highly cost effective. This project has been supported by an NIH R01 grant.
Optical Spectroscopy for Implantation Biology
The goal of this project is to use optical techniques such as light scattering spectroscopy (LSS) and Raman scattering spectroscopy to quantitatively evaluate chemical and morphological composition of embryo culture media and/or follicular fluid, and to correlate this composition with the probability of implantation success during the in-vitro fertilization. This project is supported by a new NSF grant.
Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer with Polarized Light Scattering Spectroscopy
The purpose of this pilot program is to provide the gynecologic oncologist with a light scattering spectroscopy (LSS) based diagnostic screening tool which will enable physicians to survey ovaries in patients with high levels of CA-125 and/or a family history of ovarian cancer in a minimally invasive fashion, and determine with high probability the presence of dysplasia or early cancer. It will perform measurements on most of the surface of the ovary in about one minute and present the information in real time. Suspicious areas can then be biopsied and the diagnosis verified. This approach should be vastly superior to the present strategies of performing a CA-125 test and ultrasound examination. It may also significantly improve the probability of locating early cancer during the significantly more invasive random biopsies. Thus it may provide a powerful tool for screening the population of patients with high ovarian cancer risk factors for early precancerous changes. This project is supported by a new NSF
