| 摘要 |
<p>The method of cancer screening allows for a safe, reliable, inexpensive and minimally invasive diagnosis. Cells are first collected through non-invasive or minimally invasive means. The collected cells are stored in a cell culture media to keep them viable. A chemical compound such as 5-ALA is introduced to the cultured cells. The cells are incubated a period of time in order for the interaction to occur between the introduced chemical compound and the collected cells. The cells are then studied under a fluorescence microscope which emits a specific frequency of light which matches the excitation frequency of light which would be emitted by abnormal cells. Pre-malignant and malignant cells will fluoresce in response to the interaction with the introduced compound and the specific frequency of light, while normal healthy cells generally will not fluoresce. If necessary, the collected cells may be passed through a flow cytometer to more easily identify the fluorescing cells. A presumptive diagnosis as to cancer may be made based upon the presence or absence of fluorescing cells. If a cell sample is adequately concentrated, a cell sorter does not need to be used and the cell sample may simply be viewed under the fluorescence microscope. Specific techniques are disclosed for non-invasive cell collection and minimally invasive collection. Each of these techniques minimize patient trauma and do not call for any type of incision for forced tissue removal as occurs in traditional biopsy procedures.</p> |
