Progress in Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging Applied to Venereal Cancer Diagnosis

Fourier transform infrared imaging spectroscopy is a powerful technique that provides molecular and spatial information at the single-cell level. We report on the progress of this technology in the field of cancer research, focusing on human cervical cancer because of the inherent difficulty in grading this type of cancer and as a model for venereal cancers in dogs. Using a suite of multivariate imaging processing techniques, we demonstrate the potential of this technique to identify histologic features in the normal epithelium and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia stages I and III. We highlight the advantages and detail the barriers that need to be overcome before implementation of this technology in the clinical environment.