Non- Invasive, Label-free Detection of Cervical Pre-Cancers In vivo

Our main goal is to use a special type of microscopic imaging to help detect cervical pre-cancers without the need for labels or dyes. We've been working closely with doctors at Tufts Medical Center for more than ten years and have studied images from over seventy cervical tissue samples taken from humans. We shine a laser on the tissues with two different types of light, and this caused certain molecules in the cells to give off light, which we collected and analyzed. By scanning the tissues in this way, we could make 3D images and measure how the cell structures changed with depth. In the samples, we were able to distinguish between healthy tissues and those with pre-cancerous changes with a high degree of accuracy. We are now seeking human participants to try this imaging method on alongside usual precancer screening and care.