https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430904020
Raman and Polarization-sensitive digital holographic imaging for rapid and label-free prostate cancer diagnosis
1 Institute for the Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology “G. Salvatore”, Secondary Unit, National Research Council, Naples, Italy
2 Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems, National Research Council, Naples, Italy
* Corresponding author: giuseppe.coppola@cnr.it; annachiara.deluca@cnr.it
† These authors contributed equally
Published online: 31 October 2024
In this study, we report the results of two non-invasive optical methods, Raman microscopy (RM) and polarization-sensitive digital holographic imaging (PSDHI), for distinguishing prostate cancer cells from healthy ones. RM reveals cancer cells metabolize glucose faster, storing it as fatty acids and cholesteryl esters in lipid droplets (LDs). On the other hand, PSDHI shows significant morphological changes in LDs in glucose-incubated cancer cells, including number, volume, and refractive index. High birefringence in cancer LDs under perpendicular polarizations was observed, enabling fast discrimination with over 90% accuracy. PSDHI results align closely with Raman microscopy, suggesting its potential as a promising, high-speed technique for cancer screening purposes.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
