Topic:
Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are the most common human cancers, particularly in the
Caucasian population. The possible evolution of actinic keratoses (AKs) into invasive squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) makes their treatment and monitoring essential. AKs are typically monitored before and after treatment only through a visual analysis, lacking a quantitative measure to determine treatment effectiveness. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive measure of the relative change of oxy-hemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin (O2Hb and HHb) in tissues. This research line is focused on the quantitative analysis of the vascularization before and after various kinds of treatment (i.e. topical treatment). In particular, it is aimed at determining if a time and frequency analysis of the NIRS signals acquired from the skin lesion before and after a topical treatment, using an ice pack to stimulate vasculature reactivity, can highlight quantitative differences in the AK skin lesion area.