Prospective evaluation of oral premalignant lesions using a multimodal imaging system: a pilot study

Background: Multimodal optical imaging, incorporating reflectance and fluorescence modalities, is a promising tool to detect oral premalignant lesions in real-time.

Methods: Images were acquired from 171 sites in 66 patient visits for clinical evaluation of oral lesions. An automated algorithm was used to classify lesions as high- or low-risk for neoplasia. Biopsies were acquired at clinically indicated sites and those classified as high-risk by imaging, at the surgeon's discretion.

Results: Twenty sites were biopsied based on clinical examination or imaging. Of these, 12 were indicated clinically and by imaging; 58% were moderate dysplasia or worse. Four biopsies were indicated by imaging evaluation only; 75% were moderate dysplasia or worse. Finally, four biopsies were indicated by clinical evaluation only; 75% were moderate dysplasia or worse.

Conclusion: Multimodal imaging identified more cases of high-grade dysplasia than clinical evaluation, and can improve detection of high grade precancer in patients with oral lesions.