Objective
-To contribute to the development of cost effective minimally invasive diagnostic procedures based on optical imaging techniques.
-To investigate different fluorescence measurement techniques developed by the partners for early detection, localisation, staging and screening of primary cancers and premalignancies in the cervix, the vagina, the vulva, the endometrium and of metastatic ovarian cancer.
- To develop clinical prototypes for fluorescence colposcopy, fluorescence hysteroscopy and fluorescence laparoscopy.
-To perform clinical pilot experiments with these prototypes.
The performance of five different basic approaches to fluorescence diagnostics that currently exist in five of the partner research institutes will be for early detection, localisation, staging and screening of primary cancers and pre-malignancies in the cervix, the vagina, the vulva, the endometrium and of metastatic ovarian cancer. These techniques are based on the fluorescence of exogenous or endogenous dyes: Imaging of the fluorescence intensity of tumour localising drugs; Double ratio fluorescence imaging; Imaging of the fluorescence of pH sensitive dyes; Fluorescence decay time imaging; and Fluorescence spectroscopy. These five different techniques each focus on a different aspect of the interaction between the dye, the light and the tissue. Possible combinations between the different techniques will be investigated and an optimum approach with respect to effectiveness and cost will be developed, tested and clinically investigated. Three main areas of visual diagnostic imaging are presently available and are practised as routine diagnostic techniques in clinical gynaecology: colposcopic imaging of the cervix, the vagina and the vulva; hysteroscopic imaging of the endocervix and the uterus and laparoscopic imaging of the ovaries and the abdominal cavities. The present project will closely follow this approach and aim to develop:
1) A fluorescence colposcopy system for detection of cancer and precancer of the cervix (CIN), the vulva (VIN) and the vagina (VAIN).
2) A fluorescence hysteroscopy system for detection of cancer and precancer of the endocervix and of precancer (endometriosis) and cancer (adenocarcinoma, adenoacanthoma) of the uterus.
3) A fluorescence laparoscopy system for detection of cancer of the ovaries and metastatic disease in the abdominal cavity.
These clinical prototypes to be developed will employ state-of-the-art optical technology and image processing techniques and will be evaluated clinically. Although the present proposal is focused at gynaecological cancers, the technology developed will have a much broader applicability, it may have a significant impact on cancer management in general and is thus of utmost importance to the European industry.
Fields of science
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologyprostate cancer
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsspectroscopyemission spectroscopy
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologycervical cancer
- engineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imaging
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinegynaecology
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
1105 AZ AMSTERDAM
Netherlands