THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A LASER BASED SYSTEM THAT WILL EXCITE FLUORESCENCE IN PREMALIGNANT AND MALIGNANT TISSUE FOLLOWING TREATMENT OF THE PATIENT WITH THE DYE HEMATOPORPHYRIN DERIVATIVE.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A LASER BASED SYSTEM THAT WILL EXCITE FLUORESCENCE IN PREMALIGNANT AND MALIGNANT TISSUE FOLLOWING TREATMENT OF THE PATIENT WITH THE DYE HEMATOPORPHYRIN DERIVATIVE. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE: 1.TO INTERFACE A KRYPTON ION LASER (406416 NM) WITH APPROPRIATE FIBER OPTICS FOR DELIVERY OF LIGHT TO A MALIGNANT TISSUE SITE. 2.TO COMBINE AN APPROPRIATE FIBER OPTIC DETECTION SYSTEM WITH THE ABOVE SYSTEM SO THAT THE FLUORESCENT MALIGNANT SITE CAN BE VISUALIZED EITHER DIRECTLY AND/OR INDIRECTLY USING A LOW LIGHT-LEVEL DETECTOR. 3.TO PERFORM PRELIMINARY STUDIES TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF INTERFACING THE IMAGE DETECTOR WITH REAL-TIME COMPUTER BASED IMAGE ENHANCEMENT IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE SENSITIVITY AND PRECISION OF THE TECHNIQUE. 4.TO PERFORM FEASIBILITY TESTING ON ESTABLISHED ANIMAL TUMOR MODELS FOLLOWED BY TESTING OF THE PROTOTYPE IN A CLINICAL SETTING.