Posted on: Friday, February 1,2002

Hawai'i company claims cancer-screening breakthrough

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Health Writer

Goggles protect Doni Takayama's eyes as a hyperspectral imaging device developed by Honolulu's STI Industries scanned her face for cancer cells. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

A Hawai'i technology company yesterday unveiled a new instrument that it says will revolutionize the detection and treatment of cervical cancer.

Science & Technology International developed the method with technology originally developed to spot submarines from the air and enhance images from space.

The HyperSpectral Diagnostic Imaging equipment works by capturing the unique color "fingerprint" of different cells. Pre-cancerous and cancer cells have a larger blood flow than normal tissue and thus appear as different colors.

The instrument, which sees nearly 300 separate colors compared to the red, blue and green recorded by ordinary cameras, can create a "photograph" of the cervix with detail not seen with the naked eye or through a microscope.

The procedure is non-invasive, non-contact and pain-free, according to STI.

The method is undergoing U.S. Food & Drug Administration medical trials. Paid for by a multimillion-dollar federal contract, STI will begin clinical trials at Tripler Army Medical Center next week. It already has completed trials in Lithuania, which has a high rate of cervical cancer. For a new procedure to gain acceptance in the medical community, it traditionally takes clinical trials with thousands of patients.

STI is one of the Hawai'i-based companies that are leading the nation in developing imaging technology.

Hyperspectral imaging has been harnessed by the military to seek out submarines from the sky. In Hawai'i it has been used on environmental projects, mapping corals in Kane'ohe Bay, counting humpback whales and assessing the damage after the November 2000 Hilo floods.

Now scientists are turning the technology to the smaller scales of the human body. STI officials say the homegrown technology is cutting-edge.

"We believe we're the only ones who can capture a complete image of the cervix," said STI senior vice president Will Alameida. The company also plans to work on methods for detecting colorectal and skin cancer.

Every year about 14,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer. Four thousand die of the disease. Cervical cancer is 14th on the list of leading causes of death for women in the United States, and is a leading killer in countries such as China, Africa and India.

While Pap tests to check for cervical cancer have significantly cut the death rate, STI officials say the new technology could save more lives by more quickly and accurately finding pre-cancerous cells.

When a woman gets an abnormal result from a Pap test she will usually undergo a colposcopy, in which the doctor examines the cervix with a powerful microscope. If abnormal cells are found, a biopsy may be performed to remove them.

Dr. Katarina Svanberg, a renowned oncologist who is working with STI to develop the new technology, said tests may give false negative or positive results and pre-cancerous cells may not be visible during the colposcopy.

"Seventy-five percent of ... (biopsies) are unnecessary to take and there's a lot of trouble to the patient and doctor ... there's the cost and the anxiety of waiting for the results to come," said Svanberg, chief oncologist at the Lund University Medical Hospital and Medical School in Sweden.

The hyperspectral imaging instrument is placed about 8 inches from the cervix, which is scanned. The color bands are collected by a computer and created into a cube of information that is displayed on a screen, showing which areas are suspicious or normal. By clearly showing abnormal areas, the image allows the doctor to do a "smart" biopsy when necessary, Svanberg said.

STI hopes to have the technology available on a large scale by 2004.

Rather than sell the equipment, Alameida said STI plans to make it available and charge hospitals on a per-use basis, at about the same cost as the current colposcopy exam, about $155.