Discrimination Between Basal Cell Carcinoma and Hair Follicles in Skin Tissue Sections by Raman Micro-Spectroscopy

This preliminary study demonstrated the potential of Raman micro-spectroscopy (RMS) to differentiate between basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and hair follicles in skin tissue sections excised during Mohs micrographic surgery. The study utilized a spectral model based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA) that achieved 90% sensitivity and 85% specificity in distinguishing BCC from dermis and epidermis. The model identified spectral differences primarily associated with nucleic acids and collagen type I. While RMS showed promise in accurately diagnosing BCC, some hair follicle regions were misclassified due to their similar morphology and higher nucleic acid concentration. The study highlighted RMS as a valuable optical diagnostic tool that could enhance chemical information and assist in the automatic diagnosis of challenging skin structures, potentially reducing reliance on subjective histopathological evaluations.