Abstract
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for men in the western world. For the first time, a dual-modality probe, combining Raman spectroscopy and tactile resonance technology, has been used for assessment of fresh human prostate tissue. The study investigates the potential of the dual-modality probe by testing its ability to differentiate prostate tissue types ex vivo. Measurements on four prostates show that the tactile resonance modality was able to discriminate soft epithelial tissue and stiff stroma (p < 0.05). The Raman spectra exhibited a strong fluorescent background at the current experimental settings. However, stroma could be discerned from epithelia by integrating the value of the spectral background. Combining both parameters by a stepwise analysis resulted in 100% sensitivity and 91% specificity. Although no cancer tissue was analysed, the results are promising for further development of the instrument and method for discriminating prostate tissues and cancer.
Acknowledgements
The study has received grants from the Kempe foundation and the EU structural fund Norra Norrland Objective II. The authors wish to express their gratitude to Kerstin Almroth, research assistant at the Department of Surgical and Perioperative sciences in Umeå, Pernilla Andersson, research assistant, and Wanzhong Wang, pathologist at the Department of Medical Bioscience in Umeå.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.