Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Measurement: Journal of the International Measurement Confederation, cilt.282, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Oral cancers show a significant health concern worldwide, with high morbidity and mortality rates largely attributed to late-stage diagnoses. Early detection is therefore a critical public health goal. Yet, the current clinical standard, comprising visual inspection, palpation and invasive biopsy, remains subjective, undesirable and painful, underscoring the need for non-invasive and label-free diagnostic alternatives. Accordingly, addressing this unmet need, the present study pioneers the use of a high-frequency Ultrasound Biomicroscopy (UBM) equipped with an 80 MHz transducer operating in sound speed measurement mode. Providing an in-plane resolution of approximately 20 µm, this approach facilitates the discrimination of oral tissue pathologies, with a particular focus on differentiating dysplastic and malignant (cancerous) subtle alterations by quantitative assessment of sound speed and attenuation parameters. For the first time, this study identified an acoustic signature characterized by sound speed values between 1528.9 and 1878.3 m/s (mean ± SD: 1650.5 ± 91.6 m/s) and attenuation coefficients ranging from 1.86 to 10.56 dB/mm (mean ± SD: 5.62 ± 1.76 dB/mm), defining the distinctive acoustic signature of dysplastic oral epithelium. Extending this acoustic framework, the study further complemented 80 MHz UBM characterization with Raman Spectroscopy (RS) measurements for the comprehensive evaluation of oral tissue epithelium, targeting the subtle features of dysplastic transformation. By bridging the realms of acoustic and spectroscopic domains, this work introduced an integrated framework capturing both acoustomechanical and molecular-level variations. The acoustic biomarkers, derived from quantitative assessment of sound speed and attenuation, enabled precise discrimination among different stages of oral epithelial transformation, while complementary RS signatures offered a preliminary biochemical fingerprint, jointly advancing the frontier of non-invasive dysplasia diagnosis. This study highlighted the potential of UBM to serve as a promising bridge between microscopic characterization and future clinical ultrasound applications.