Washington, May 24 (IANS): Scientists have come up with a non-invasive and more effective way to detect oral cancer, says a study.

The imaging technique, which is detailed in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, has been developed by Kristen Maitland, assistant professor at the department of biomedical engineering of Texas A&M University.

The non-invasive system combines two separate technologies -- confocal microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging -- to evaluate both the structural changes of tissue as well as molecular changes that take place on a cellular and tissue level, reports Science Daily.

The morphological and biochemical changes are key factors in determining whether a tissue is precancerous or cancerous, Maitland said.

"We want to enhance a doctor's ability to detect the worst state of disease in the mouth," Maitland said.

"This is about increasing the diagnostic yield. For example, rather than taking a few biopsies from random sites to represent a large heterogeneous lesion, our system can guide the clinician to biopsy the tissue with the worst state of disease to provide a more accurate diagnosis, as opposed to possibly missing the cancer or pre-cancer," the researcher added.