Overview: A New Frontier in Non-Invasive Optical Imaging
Researchers at the University of Arizona (U of A) are poised to advance how clinicians view living tissues. With nearly $2.7 million from the NIH’s Common Fund Venture Program, the team will develop next-generation imaging technologies designed to peer deeper into skin and soft tissues without surgery or invasive probes. Led by Florian Willomitzer of the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences and Dr. Clara Curiel-Lewandrowski of the U of A Comprehensive Cancer Center, the project is one of only four nationwide funded through the initiative focused on non-invasive optical imaging for biological systems.
What is Being Developed
The core technology centers on synthetic wavelength imaging (SWI). SWI uses two separate illumination wavelengths to computationally generate a third, virtual imaging wavelength. This synthetic wavelength is longer, making it more resistant to scattering in tissue, which typically blurs deep-tissue images. By leveraging this property, researchers expect to maintain high-contrast information from the original illumination wavelengths while achieving greater penetration depth than traditional optical methods.
As described by the project team, the approach targets the challenging trade-off among depth penetration, resolution, and imaging contrast. The method’s tunable imaging capabilities are designed to adapt to the varied presentations of nonmelanoma skin cancers, including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, which often differ in their imaging contrast compared with melanoma.
Clinical Relevance for Skin Cancer Care
Nonmelanoma skin cancers are the most common malignancies worldwide. For clinicians, accurately defining tumor margins at diagnosis and reliably monitoring response to treatment are critical, yet current noninvasive tools may fall short on depth or contrast. Curiel-Lewandrowski notes that lesions can vary widely in size, depth, and invasion patterns, underscoring the need for adaptable imaging modalities that can inform treatment decisions in real time.
Indeed, the researchers emphasize a translational goal: to bring a robust, non-invasive imaging solution into clinical practice. If successful, SWI could help determine how deeply a lesion invades, tailor the duration and intensity of non-invasive therapies, and ultimately reduce the need for surgical interventions in some cases.
How SWI Complements Existing Technologies
Current skin imaging modalities, such as confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT), offer excellent resolution but are limited by scattering at deeper tissue depths. Other deep-imaging approaches—like ultrasound or blended techniques—sometimes trade depth for resolution or contrast. The AZ team’s strategy is to combine the best of both worlds: the depth of longer, synthetic wavelengths with the crisp contrast obtainable at the original illumination wavelengths, aided by advanced computational analysis.
“Synthetic wavelength imaging’s resilience to scattering in deep tissue while preserving high tissue contrast at the optical carrier wavelengths is a rare combination,” Willomitzer explains. “Pairing this with sophisticated computational evaluation could break the conventional resolution-depth-contrast tradeoff.”
Path to the Clinic and Broader Impacts
The grant supports milestone-driven development intended to yield a first clinical demonstration of SWI for non-melanoma skin cancer assessment. Curiel-Lewandrowski envisions a future where imaging results guide personalized treatment plans, potentially reducing unnecessary interventions and enabling real-time monitoring of therapy response. This could also streamline decisions about how long to treat and at what dose, helping tailor care to individual patients.
Interdisciplinary collaboration is a hallmark of the effort, bringing together health sciences, engineering, and optical sciences. Co-investigator Jennifer Barton and other team members, including pharmacology researchers, contribute to a comprehensive effort aimed at translating laboratory innovations into bedside tools.
Future Avenues and Potential Applications
While the current focus is nonmelanoma skin cancers, the work could extend to broader applications. The intrinsic tunability of SWI may enable new detection methods for breast cancer or deeper brain imaging, should the technology prove scalable and robust in clinical settings. The research thus holds promise not only for improving skin cancer care but for advancing non-invasive imaging across a spectrum of tissues and diseases.
