Infrared imaging of normal and diseased cervical tissue sections

Synchrotron FTIR maps, focal plane array and linear array images recorded of 4 mu m cervical biopsy sections from the surface epithelium and glandular endometrium are compared in terms of spatial resolution and applicability to the clinical environment. Synchrotron FTIR maps using a 10 mu m aperture appear to provide a better spatial resolution capable of discerning single nuclei in the tissue matrix. Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis performed on the synchrotron, focal plane array and linear array data in the 1700-1400 cm(-1) region show very similar clusters and mean-extracted spectra, demonstrating the robustness of FTIR microscopy and UHCA in the analysis of tissue sections. Maps recorded with the focal plane array using a conventional globar source take one-fortieth of the time but the spatial resolution precludes true single cell analysis in the tissue matrix. The high spatial resolution achieved with the synchrotron shows potential as a gold standard for FTIR diagnosis of cervical samples.