Researchers at Saratov National Research State University named after N.G. Chernyshevsky (SSU), in collaboration with partners from China and France, have advanced a diagnostic approach for skin cancer by developing a special gel designed to enhance tissue visibility at greater depths. The project was highlighted by the Ministry of Education and Science to socialbites.ca.
Today, noninvasive, light-based tissue imaging methods play a key role in oncological diagnostics. These techniques rely on manipulating how skin layers absorb and scatter light. Yet the skin naturally scatters light quite a bit, which reduces image contrast and limits how deep the visualization can reach.
To enable light to traverse the epidermis and reach deeper tissue layers, a thin, optical brightening formulation is applied to the skin surface. The agent is built from biocompatible substances such as sugars, alcohols, fatty acids, and organic solvents. By replacing interstitial fluid with this mixture, the tissue becomes optically more uniform, which diminishes scattering and permits light to penetrate more deeply. This understanding is attributed to Valery Tuchin, head of the optics and biophotonics department at the SSU Institute of Physics and a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who spoke with socialbites.ca.
The whitening agent used in this approach is a composite of polyethylene glycol-400, propylene glycol, and oleic acid. When applied at relevant concentrations, the formulation is less toxic than several analogues and helps brighten and sharpen optical coherence tomography images across the full depth of the skin.
This discovery promises to greatly expand the depth sensitivity of optical imaging and spectroscopy for diagnosing skin cancer. Researchers anticipate translating this technology into clinical practice and making it available to medical teams in Canada and the United States.
Earlier work by other scientists introduced an innovative system for diagnosing autism, underscoring the broader potential of optical methods in medicine and their ongoing evolution through international collaboration.