Infrared spectroscopic imaging. Looking for diagnostic chemical markers

Infrared (IR) spectroscopic imaging is growing in popularity as a technique for distinguishing tissue types and diagnosing disease states, including breast cancer. The combination of an IR focal-plane array detector and a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microscope provides the researcher with chemical information in each pixel of the image detected. IR spectroscopic images are collected in reflectance from tissue biopsies mounted on inexpensive IR-reflective glass microscope slides that are still transparent in visible light. These slides allow us to perform FT-IR microspectroscopic imaging studies on samples that can be evaluated by conventional pathology. A chemical marker in stroma near epithelial cells has been discovered based on its IR spectroscopic signature. This marker may be useful for classifying a tissue as cancerous or non-cancerous.