Scientific Committee

Biography

Dr. Frederick H. Silver is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He did his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering at M.I.T. with Dr. Ioannis Yannas, the inventor of the Integra artificial skin, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Developmental Medicine at Mass General Hospital in Boston, MA with Dr. Robert L. Trelstad, a connective tissue pathologist. Dr. Silver invented in his lab at Rutgers a new technique termed vibrational optical coherence tomography (VOCT). US and European patents have been granted on VOCT to Rutgers on vibrational evaluation of materials and tissues. The issued patent has been licensed to OptoVibronex, LLC. a startup company co-founded by Dr. Silver and Lisa Silver. This technology can be used to provide a non-invasive “virtual biopsy” of tissues including skin cancers and ocular tissues. This technology can be used with telemedicine to provide images and quantitative mechanovibrational data that along with AI can be used to remotely provide information used in making personalized medical diagnoses. His interests include applying new engineering techniques that can be used to assess the structure and properties of extracellular matrix in health and disease and the role of mechanobiology in tissue mechanical homeostasis. A breakthrough device designation has been issued by the US FDA to OptoVibronex to facilitate the approval process and to assist the Dermatologist to identify the margins and depth of skin lesions noninvasively. Dr. Silver has published over 250 peer reviewed scientific papers, 4 textbooks on biomaterials and biomedical engineering, and has over 20 patents issued and pending. He has taught biomedical engineering students at Boston University, University of Minnesota, and Rutgers for over 40 years. He is a section editor for Biomaterials for the MDPI Journal Biomolecules.

Abstract

Skin cancer is a problem in the US and world-wide due to the growing numbers of patients screened and treated for basal cell carcinomas (BCCs).  By 2050 the number of skin cancers predicted in the US will grow from the current number of 5M to 25M/yr. VOCT is a new optical and vibrational method to diagnose and study skin and skin cancers. It was developed and patented by Rutgers University and licensed to OptoVibronex, LLC for commercialization. It combines OCT imaging in the scanning mode with vibrational data collected in the fixed position mode giving physical data on the resonant frequency and modulus of individual skin components in the epidermis and papillary dermis. In addition, by breaking the color-coded OCT images into green, blue, and red channels it gives information that reflects the cellular and melanin aggregates, collagen, and fibrotic tissue. These images can be scanned and quantitatively analysed using the developed computer software. Results of studies on benign and cancerous lesions indicate that the presence of cellular aggregates, melanin particles, new thin blood vessels as well as the amount of fibrotic collagen can be directly related to the type of lesion. Machine learning studies indicate that quantitative pixel intensity versus depth plots can be used to predict lesion type with sensitivities between 90% and 100%. The technique is used in the clinic to generate information for the physician including simple lesion images to screen patients for potential cancers along with quantitative data that combined with dermoscopy and visual inspection can identify suspicious lesions along with their boundaries. The collection of OCT images in combination with vibrational mechanical loading at sound frequencies up to 100 Hz can be used to localize normal and cancerous cell aggregates in a matter of minutes. Comparison of histopathology of cancerous basal carcinomas and normal epithelial cells from color-coded OCT images suggests that cancerous cellular aggregates can be distinguished from normal epithelial cells visually by their resonance at different frequencies. The results of VOCT studies and histopathology on basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) suggest that the orientation of newly deposited collagen found around nodular BCCs acts as a boundary limiting the growing cancer.

It is concluded that VOCT in combination with visual inspection and dermascopy are tools that can be used together to screen suspicious lesions by physicians. VOCT can be used remotely by general practitioners to screen patients in areas where Dermatologist visits as are difficult to schedule. The results of these screening tests can be provided to Dermatologists electronically to make treatment recommendations and decisions.