Biophotonics: Endoscopic Confocal Microscopy by Spectral Encoding

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

0086709 Tearney The objective of this program is to develop and construct a prototype clinical confocal microscopy system capable of non-invasively obtaining images of cellular microstructure in internal human organ systems. The scanning techniques currently used in laser confocal microscopy are not readily adaptable to the dimensions and constraints of medical endoscopes. Spectrally encoded confocal microscopy (SECM), a technique developed in this laboratory, uses a broad bandwidth light source and a diffraction grating to simultaneously illuminate multiple points along a transverse line within a sample and to detect reflected light from these points. Since this method does not require fast spatial scanning mechanisms within the probe, it is capable of being miniaturized and incorporated into a catheter or endoscope. Special emphasis will be placed on developing an endoscopic confocal microscopy imaging system that is clinically viable, and can potentially be applied to applications ranging from screening for dysplasia to intra-operative tumor margin detection. In addition, this imaging modality could be used for basic science applications to investigate the pathophysiology of disease processes at a cellular level in situ.