System identification of the intracellular photoreaction process induced by photodynamic therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an alternative treatment for cancer that involves the administration of a photosensitizing agent, which is activated by light at a specific wavelength. This illumination causes a sequence of photoreactions, which - in the presence of molecular oxygen - is supposed to be responsible for the death of the tumor cells. The PDT efficiency stems from the optimal interaction between these three factors (light, drug and oxygen). In this paper, a new approach is proposed to estimate photophysical parameters which characterize the ability of a photosensitizing drug to produce singlet oxygen. This approach is based on system identification techniques. This model-based method would allow biologists to estimate all the photophysical parameters from spectro-fluorescence data generated by only one experiment. Secondly, contrary to usual techniques which are restricted to in vitro studies, this approach can be directly applied to in vivo data.