Low-cost portable imaging systems for cancer detection

Worldwide incidence and mortality rates due to cancer continue to rise, with the burden of disease increasingly shifting to developing countries. Several optical diagnostic methods are under development to enable earlier detection of cancer, however, these are primarily intended for use in healthcare facilities in industrialized countries. Using knowledge gained from early clinical studies with large-scale prototype systems, we have designed and tested low-cost, portable versions of these instruments. We propose that these systems may be used for early diagnosis and screening in developing countries, and that pilot clinical studies are warranted in these low-resource settings.