Abstract: Fusobacterium is a genus of gram-negative, filamentous, anaerobic bacteria found as normal flora in the mouth and large bowel, and often in necrotic tissue. A comparison of microbial ribonucleic acids (RNA) between colorectal carcinoma (CRC) tissue and adjacent normal control tissue found the over-representation of F. nucleatum in CRC tissue. RNA abundance was measured by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplifying RNA from the tissue, constructing libraries, sequencing the RNA in the libraries, pairing sequences from CRC and normal tissue, and quantifying RNA abundance. Detection of Fusobacterium in a gastrointestinal sample is indicative of gastrointestinal cancer.

Abstract: Methods and apparati for fluorescence imaging using multiple excitation-emission pairs is revealed. A target object is illuminated by light in at least two spectral regions, causing fluorescence emission in at least two spectral regions. The emitted light is collected and separated for analysis.

Abstract: An apparatus for in vivo, endoscopic laser Raman spectroscopy probe and methods for its use are described. The probe comprises a fiber bundle assemble small enough to fit through an endoscope instrument channel, a novel combination of special coatings to the fiber bundle assembly, including a short-pass filter on the illumination fiber and a long-pass filter on the collection fiber bundle, a novel filter adapter comprising collimating lenses, focusing lenses, a band-pass filter, and a notch filter, and a round-to-parabolic linear array fiber bundle. The apparatus further comprises a laser to deliver illumination light and a spectrometer to analyze Raman-scattered light from a sample. The analysis of Raman spectra from in vivo measurements can discover molecular and structural changes associated with neoplastic transformations and lead to early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.