Stone, NicholasBristol, J.Chan, C.Tydeman, C.2014-05-092014-05-092012-09http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/8442Axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy plays an important role in breast cancer management in determining further surgical and medical treatment options. Intraoperative assessment of the sentinel lymph node might allow immediate axillary surgery, which would incur benefits to both the patient and healthcare trusts. A handheld Raman spectroscopy probe has already been shown to be a comparable option for intraoperative assessment through previous published and unpublished studies, delivering a sensitivity of up to 92% and specificity of up to 99%. This research aims to define further the role of the hand-held Raman spectroscopy probe as an accurate, rapid and non-destructive technique for intra-operative axillary node assessment, making it a strong competitor in the clinical market. It also looks to improve the sensitivity of the probe by altering the methodology used in previous studies. 122 lymph node halves were collected intraoperatively from 37 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and spectra measured using a commercially available handheld Raman spectroscopy probe. Spectra were then fed into a specialist software programme and analysed using principal component fed linear discriminant analysis trained by histopathology results. A “2 group” training model defining the probe‟s ability to distinguish between benign and malignant tissue produced an overall performance of 86.4%, with a sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 91%. The results were not as impressive as previous studies. This was possibly due to a broken probe, leading to four different phases of measurements (original probe/failing probe/temporary replacement/mended probe). Secondly a smaller, less balanced data set, in terms of spectra per pathology group, was collected and there appeared to be more fluorescence in some of the data which may have originated from varying blue dye injection protocols. However, that said further research using a robust, high specification system may help establish its role as a reliable assessment tool intraoperatively as well as a non-invasive means of assessing lymph nodes in the initial assessment clinic.en© Cranfield University 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the copyright owner.Thesis or dissertation