Volume 13, Issue 2 e201960109
LETTER

Superpixel Raman spectroscopy for rapid skin cancer margin assessment

Xu Feng

Xu Feng

Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

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Matthew C. Fox

Matthew C. Fox

Department of Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

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Jason S. Reichenberg

Jason S. Reichenberg

Department of Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

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Fabiana C.P.S. Lopes

Fabiana C.P.S. Lopes

Department of Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

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Katherine R. Sebastian

Katherine R. Sebastian

Department of Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

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Andrew K. Dunn

Andrew K. Dunn

Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

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Mia K. Markey

Mia K. Markey

Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

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James W. Tunnell

Corresponding Author

James W. Tunnell

Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Correspondence

James W. Tunnell, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 107 W. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78712.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 22 December 2019
Citations: 15

Funding information: Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, Grant/Award Number: RP130702

Abstract

Spontaneous Raman micro-spectroscopy has been demonstrated great potential in delineating tumor margins; however, it is limited by slow acquisition speed. We describe a superpixel acquisition approach that can expedite acquisition between ~×100 and ×10 000, as compared to point-by-point scanning by trading off spatial resolution. We present the first demonstration of superpixel acquisition on rapid discrimination of basal cell carcinoma tumor from eight patients undergoing Mohs micrographic surgery. Results have been demonstrated high discriminant power for tumor vs normal skin based on the biochemical differences between nucleus, collagen, keratin and ceramide. We further perform raster-scanned superpixel Raman imaging on positive and negative margin samples. Our results indicate superpixel acquisition can facilitate the use of Raman microspectroscopy as a rapid and specific tool for tumor margin assessment.image

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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