Enhanced Fluorescence for Detection of Tumor Tissue

The detection of several types of cancerous cells requires the use of spectroscopic fluorescence methods. The aim is to evaluate and implement a unique new method for improving the monitoring an analysis of tumor tissues through an approach based on the enhanced detection of weak optical signals. We will develop special holographic noise suppressing coatings, which are analogous to moth-eye structures. These coatings are versatile and can be applied to almost any internal part of an optical detection system. They provide noise suppressing capabilities which will improve the detection sensitivity of tumor tissue by a factor of 10. A further benefit of moth-eye surface relief structures is their enormous surface area while maintaining excellent optical properties. Moth-eye films are low bulk and may be incinerated. We expect that excellent optical properties will be preserved after depositing samples on top of the moth-eye film. As a result of this development, new detection systems which are more compact and user friendly can be implemented in a medical environment.