Otolaryngology Center for Innovative Technology (OCIT)
Director: Zhi Wang MD
Location: 801 Albany Street, Gilmore/Vines Building, Suite 102
Area: 4 rooms/offices with 1,800 square feet
Projects: Currently (in 2005) there are a total of six NIH-sponsored research projects being conducted in this laboratory including the following:

Early diagnosis of oral cancer using spectroscopic techniques
Early detection of oral cancer is critical for successful treatment and improvement of the survival rate. However, current detection is usually done by visual screening and biopsies. It presents a major challenge for even experienced clinicians. Since 1995, our group has been working with Dr. Michael Feld and his group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop a real-time, noninvasive approach by using new laser-induced fluorescence and spectroscopic techniques.

Our findings from animal models and patient studies are very encouraging. Now, we are continuing to work on this study to develop new tri-modal spectroscope (a combination of three spectroscopic techniques) and scattering imaging techniques. We expect that our new study will further improve the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis. We will also explore the feasibility of using these new technologies for intraoperative guidance of tumor surgery and for prediction of the treatment efficacy with cancer chemoprevention.