We describe a combination of liquid-jet microencapsulation and molding techniques to fabricate tissue-simulating phantoms that mimick functional characteristics of tissue oxygen saturation (StO2). Chicken hemoglobin (Hb) was encapsulated inside a photocurable resin by a coaxial flow focusing process. The microdroplets were cured by ultraviolet (UV) illumination to form Hb loaded polymersome microdroplets. The microdroplets were further freeze-dried to form semipermeable solid microcapules with an outer transparent polymeric shell and an inner core of Hb. The diameter of the microcapsules ranged from 50 to100 μm. The absorption spectrum of the microcapsules was measured by a UV/VIS spectrophotometer over a wavelength range from 400 nm to 1100 nm. To fabricate the tissue-simulating phantom, the Hb loaded microcapsules were dispersed in transparent polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The optical properties of the phantom were determined by an vertical double integrating sphere with a reconstruction algorithm. The experimental results showed that the tissue-simulating phantom exhibited the spectral characteristics closely resembling that of oxy-hemoglobin. The phantom had a long-term optical stability when stored in 4 ℃, indicating that microencapsulation effectively protected Hb and improved its shelf time. With the Hb loaded microcapsules, we will produce skin-simulating phantoms for quantitative validation of multispectral imaging techniques. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no solid phantom is able to mimick living tissue oxygenation with good agreement. Therefore, our work provided an engineering platform for validating and calibrating spectral optical devices in biomedical applications.
In this work, the microencapsulation of water-soluble drug (doxorubicin, Dox) and imaging agent (perfluorocarbon, PFC) is performed by a novel liquid driven tri-axial flow focusing (LDTFF) device. The formation of stable triple-layered cone-jet mode can be observed in the simple well-assembled LDTFF device, providing an easy approach to fabricate mono-disperse triple-layered microcapsules with high encapsulation efficiency, high throughput and low cost in just one step. The fluorescence images show that the microcapsules have a satisfactory core-shell structure. The SEM micrographs show spherical and smooth surface views of the triple-layered microcapsules after being stirred 72h to remove the organic solvent totally. The results of thermo-responsive release experiments of the produced triple-layered microcapsules show these multifunctional capsules can be well stimulated when the environment temperature is beyond 55 degree centigrade. In a word, this novel approach has a great potential in applications such as drug delivery and image-guided therapy.
As a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence dye, Indocyanine Green (ICG) has not gained broader clinical applications, owing to its multiple limitations such as concentration-dependent aggregation, low fluorescence quantum yield, poor physicochemical stability and rapid elimination from the body. In the meanwhile, 2H,3H-perfluoropentane (H-PFP) has been widely studied in ultrasound imaging as a vehicle for targeted delivery of contrast agents and drugs. We synthesized a novel dual-modal fluorescence and ultrasound contrast agent by encapsulating ICG and H-PFP in lipid microbubbles using a liquid-driven coaxial flow focusing (LDCFF) process. Uniform microbubbles with the sizes ranging from 1-10um and great ICG loading efficiency was achieved by this method. Our benchtop experiments showed that ICG/H-PFP microbubbles exhibited less aggregation, increased fluorescence intensity and more stable photostability compared to free ICG aqueous solution. Our phantom experiments demonstrated that ICG/H-PFP microbubbles enhanced the imaging contrasts in fluorescence imaging and ultrasonography. Our animal experiments indicated that ICG/H-PFP microbubbles extended the ICG life time and facilitated dual mode fluorescence and ultrasound imaging in vivo.
Optical phantoms are commonly used to validate and calibrate biomedical optical devices in order to ensure accurate measurement of optical properties in biological tissue. However, commonly used optical phantoms are based on homogenous materials that reflect neither optical properties nor multi-layer heterogeneities of biological tissue. Using these phantoms for optical calibration may result in significant bias in biological measurement. We propose to characterize and fabricate tissue simulating phantoms that simulate not only the multi-layer heterogeneities but also optical properties of biological tissue. The tissue characterization module detects tissue structural and functional properties in vivo. The phantom printing module generates 3D tissue structures at different scales by layer-by-layer deposition of phantom materials with different optical properties. The ultimate goal is to fabricate multi-layer tissue simulating phantoms as a traceable standard for optimal calibration of biomedical optical spectral devices.
We introduce a microfluidic approach to simulate tumor hypoxia and vascular anomaly. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) phantoms with embedded microchannel networks were fabricated by a soft lithography process. A dialysis membrane was sandwiched between two PDMS slabs to simulate the controlled mass transport and oxygen metabolism. A tortuous microchannel network was fabricated to simulate tumor microvasculature. A dual-modal multispectral and laser speckle imaging system was used for oxygen and blood flow imaging in the tumor-simulating phantom. The imaging results were compared with those of the normal vasculature. Our experiments demonstrated the technical feasibility of simulating tumor hypoxia and vascular anomalies using the proposed PDMS phantom. Such a phantom fabrication technique may be potentially used to calibrate optical imaging devices, to study the mechanisms for tumor hypoxia and angiogenesis, and to optimize the drug delivery strategies.
Simultaneous and quantitative assessment of multiple tissue parameters may facilitate more effective diagnosis and therapy in many clinical applications, such as wound healing. However, existing wound assessment methods are typically subjective and qualitative, with the need for sequential data acquisition and coregistration between modalities, and lack of reliable standards for performance evaluation or calibration. To overcome these limitations, we developed a multimodal imaging system for quasi-simultaneous assessment of cutaneous tissue oxygenation and perfusion in a quantitative and noninvasive fashion. The system integrated multispectral and laser speckle imaging technologies into one experimental setup. Tissue oxygenation and perfusion were reconstructed by advanced algorithms. The accuracy and reliability of the imaging system were quantitatively validated in calibration experiments and a tissue-simulating phantom test. The experimental results were compared with a commercial oxygenation and perfusion monitor. Dynamic detection of cutaneous tissue oxygenation and perfusion was also demonstrated in vivo by a postocclusion reactive hyperemia procedure in a human subject and a wound healing process in a wounded mouse model. Our in vivo experiments not only validated the performance of the multimodal imaging system for cutaneous tissue oxygenation and perfusion imaging but also demonstrated its technical potential for wound healing assessment in clinical practice.
This paper introduces novel methods to fabricate optical phantoms that simulate the morphologic, optical, and microvascular characteristics of skin tissue. The multi-layer skin-simulating phantom was fabricated by a light-cured 3D printer that mixed and printed the colorless light-curable ink with the absorption and the scattering ingredients for the designated optical properties. The simulated microvascular network was fabricated by a soft lithography process to embed microchannels in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) phantoms. The phantoms also simulated vascular anomalies and hypoxia commonly observed in cancer. A dual-modal multispectral and laser speckle imaging system was used for oxygen and perfusion imaging of the tissue-simulating phantoms. The light-cured 3D printing technique and the soft lithography process may enable freeform fabrication of skin-simulating phantoms that embed microvessels for image and drug delivery applications.
Simultaneous and quantitative assessment of skin functional characteristics in different modalities will facilitate diagnosis
and therapy in many clinical applications such as wound healing. However, many existing clinical practices and
multimodal imaging systems are subjective, qualitative, sequential for multimodal data collection, and need co-registration
between different modalities. To overcome these limitations, we developed a multimodal imaging system for quantitative,
non-invasive, and simultaneous imaging of cutaneous tissue oxygenation and blood perfusion parameters. The imaging
system integrated multispectral and laser speckle imaging technologies into one experimental setup. A Labview interface
was developed for equipment control, synchronization, and image acquisition. Advanced algorithms based on a wide gap
second derivative reflectometry and laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) were developed for accurate reconstruction
of tissue oxygenation and blood perfusion respectively. Quantitative calibration experiments and a new style of skinsimulating
phantom were designed to verify the accuracy and reliability of the imaging system. The experimental results
were compared with a Moor tissue oxygenation and perfusion monitor. For In vivo testing, a post-occlusion reactive
hyperemia (PORH) procedure in human subject and an ongoing wound healing monitoring experiment using dorsal
skinfold chamber models were conducted to validate the usability of our system for dynamic detection of oxygenation and
perfusion parameters. In this study, we have not only setup an advanced multimodal imaging system for cutaneous tissue
oxygenation and perfusion parameters but also elucidated its potential for wound healing assessment in clinical practice.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.