Jayachandran Bhavani, Ge Jiajia, Regalado Steven, Godavarty Anuradha
Florida International University, Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Miami, Florida 33174, USA.
J Biomed Opt. 2007 Sep-Oct;12(5):054014. doi: 10.1117/1.2799193.
Near-infrared optical imaging is an emerging noninvasive technology toward breast cancer diagnosis. The optical imaging systems available to date are limited either by flexibility to image any given breast volume, patient comfort, or instrument portability. Here, a hand-held optical probe is designed and developed, 1. employing a unique measurement scheme of simultaneous multiple point illumination and collection for rapid data acquisition and minimal patient discomfort, and 2. employing a curved probe head such that it allows flexible imaging of tissue curvatures. Simulation studies are carried out on homogeneous slab phantoms (5x10x8 cc) to determine an appropriate source-detector configuration for the probe head. These design features are implemented in the development of the probe, which consisted of six simultaneous illuminating and 165 simultaneous collecting fibers, spaced 0.5 cm apart on a 5x10 sq-cm probe head. Simulation studies on 3-D slab and curved phantoms demonstrate an increase in the total area of predicted fluorescence amplitude and overall signal strength on using simultaneous multiple point sources over a single point source. The probe is designed and developed such that on coupling with a detection system in the future, the hand-held probe based imager can be clinically assessed toward cancer diagnostic imaging.
近红外光学成像技术是一种新兴的用于乳腺癌诊断的非侵入性技术。目前可用的光学成像系统存在一定的局限性，比如在对任何给定乳房体积进行成像时的灵活性、患者舒适度或仪器便携性方面。在此，设计并开发了一种手持式光学探头，1. 采用独特的同时多点照明和采集测量方案，以实现快速数据采集并使患者不适最小化；2. 采用弯曲的探头，以便能够对组织曲率进行灵活成像。在均匀平板模型（5×10×8立方厘米）上进行了模拟研究，以确定探头合适的源 - 探测器配置。这些设计特点在探头的开发中得以实现，该探头由6根同时照明光纤和165根同时采集光纤组成，在5×10平方厘米的探头上间隔0.5厘米排列。对三维平板和弯曲模型的模拟研究表明，与单点光源相比，使用同时多点光源时预测荧光幅度的总面积和整体信号强度有所增加。该探头的设计和开发使其在未来与检测系统耦合时，基于手持式探头的成像仪能够用于癌症诊断成像的临床评估。
