Novel laser-induced linear polarization for facile diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cancer whose incidence is increasing globally. In spite of advances in medical and surgical therapies, its prognosis remains deprived. Developing methods for early diagnosis is essential for better treatment outcomes. In this pilot study, laser-induced linear polarization was adopted for the characterization of total RNA samples obtained from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients against healthy volunteers. Total RNA samples were illuminated with non-ionizing laser source of 632.8 nm; the scattered light signatures were captured and processed using hyperspectral camera. Scattered light signature was found to depend on polarizabiltiy, size, shape, and chemical structure of scattering macromolecules. DNA (control) demonstrated the highest scattered intensity; with intense fringes compared with RNA (control). Meanwhile RNA (HCC) demonstrated the lowest scattered intensity as well as the lowest fringe spacing compared with RNA (control). For instance, at 380 fringe spacing DNA (Control), RNA (Control), RNA (HCC) demonstrated scatted light intensity of 0.049, 0.039, and 0.034, respectively. Novel column mean calculation was conducted for hyperspectral images at 632.8 nm to assess scattered signal intensity and fringe spacing. The scattered RNA signal could secure characteristic finger-print fringes; that are candidate for facile HCC early diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to report an optical methodology based on linear polarization for HCC facile diagnosis as a pilot study.