Hyperspectral imaging of head and neck tumors*

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a promising imaging modality that uses visible light to obtain information about biological tissues. It has the distinct advantage of being noncontact, nonionizing, and noninvasive without needing a contrast agent. Among the many applications of HSI in the medical field are detecting various types of tumors and tumor tissue parameters.

A clinical study involving human patients with BCC, SCC, and benign skin lesions in the head and neck region will be presented. Imaging was performed using a handheld HIS camera (IQ, Specim) covering the 400 – 1000 nm spectral region. The recorded images were analyzed by calculating different tissue indices (e.g., erythema, oxygenation, water content). Statistic matrices were calculated for each tissue index map, and healthy, peri-tumorous skin and tumor regions were compared. Statistically significant differences were found between these regions, especially regarding oxygenation and erythema. These features enable the detection of tumors and provide insight into human subjects' tumor properties evaluation.

HSI is a potentially attractive imaging modality for clinical application in oncology, especially when combined with complementary imaging techniques.