Stanford University researchers have developed a new noninvasive medical imaging technique that can reveal the chemical make-up and shape of structures such as tumor near the skin’s surface.

The “Raman spectroscopy” scanning technique uses safe, low-power infrared lasers in combination with nanoparticles, coated with antibodies that bind to molecules of interest, that tag targeted areas.

The location of the nanoparticles, and hence the tumor, can then be detected because they shift the color of the laser light shone into the body.