Assessing epithelial cell nuclear morphology by using azimuthal light scattering spectroscopy

We describe azimuthal light scattering spectroscopy (φ/LSS), a novel technique for assessing epithelial-cell nuclear morphology. The difference between the spectra measured at azimuthal angles φ=0° and φ=90° preferentially isolates the single backscattering contribution due to large (∼10 μm) structures such as epithelial cell nuclei by discriminating against scattering from smaller organelles and diffusive background. We demonstrate the feasibility of using φ/LSS for cancer detection by showing that spectra from cancerous colon tissue exhibit significantly greater azimuthal asymmetry than spectra from normal colonic tissues. © 2006 Optical Society of America