Characterization of Raman spectroscopy for the human cervix

Abstract

Raman spectroscopy has the potential for providing differential diagnosis between dysplasia and benign cervix with high sensitivity and specificity. Two in vivo studies where designed to further evaluate the potential and improve the sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy to detect cervical dysplasia in a clinical setting. In the first study, the Raman spectral differences between the low grade dysplasia, high grade dysplasia, and benign cervix were characterized with a focus on low grade dysplasia, and a multi-class algorithm was used to classify spectra. The second study characterized spectral variability of the normal cervix due to factors such as hormonal status and the presence of previous disease. Additionally, Raman micro-spectroscopy was used to evaluate differences among histopathology classes and determine where the signal from in vivo experiments originates. These studies have shown that by taking normal variations of the cervix into consideration, Raman spectroscopy can successfully differentiate low grade dysplasia, high grade dysplasia, and benign cervix with high classification accuracy.