CC BY
11B-PS-8
Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy for cellular imaging
Q. Liu123, L. Fu12'3
1Huazhong University of Science and Technology, WNLO, Wuhan, China
2 Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics-Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
3 MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) is an endoscopic modality that obtains very high magnification and resolution images of the mucosal layer of the gastrointestinal tract, which presenting cell morphology with a highly consistent with biopsy pathology. pCLE will be helpful for 'in vivo biopsy' and for early diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases.
We developed a visible pCLE that a 488 nm laser source was used for tissue illumination, with detection of the tissue fluorescence through a pinhole aperture subsequently. The visible light imaging probe with outer diameter of 2.6 mm is composed of a fiber bundle and a high-NA miniature objective, enabling real-time imaging of colon mucosa of C57BL/6 mice with lateral resolution of 1.4 ^m and field of view of 300 ^m x 300 ^m at the depth of 150 p,m below the surface. However, it is difficult to observe the structures under lamina propria using visible pCLE, because of the intense scattering of visible light.
Aiming to achieve deep-tissue imaging at cellular resolution, we developed a near-infrared pCLE with a 2.6 mm diameter optical fiber probe. It can achieve real-time deep imaging with a higher contrast, lateral resolution of 1.55 ^m and field of view of 330 p,m x 330 p,m at the depth of 300 ^m. The ability of deep tissue imaging for the near-infrared pCLE has been demonstrated by mouse esophageal imaging at different depths. The deep imaging of ulcerative colitis shows the capability of this system for disease diagnosis in deep-layer tissues.
In summary, we will present two prototypes of pCLE with different laser sources, which can be compatible with biopsy channel of conventional endoscopy with the ability of the detection of gastrointestinal diseases.
