Inspired by the visual system of the morpho butterfly, we have designed, fabricated, tested and clinically translated an ultra-sensitive, light weight and compact imaging sensor capable of simultaneously capturing near infrared (NIR) and visible spectrum information. The visual system of the morpho butterfly combines photosensitive cells with spectral filters at the receptor level. The spectral filters are realized by alternating layers of high and low dielectric constant, such as air and cytoplasm. We have successfully mimicked this concept by integrating pixelated spectral filters, realized by alternating silicon dioxide and silicon nitrate layers, with an array of CCD detectors. There are four different types of pixelated spectral filters in the imaging plane: red, green, blue and NIR. The high optical density (OD) of all spectral filters (OD>4) allow for efficient rejections of photons from unwanted bands. The single imaging chip weighs 20 grams with form factor of 5mm by 5mm.
The imaging camera is integrated with a goggle display system. A tumor targeted agent, LS301, is used to identify all spontaneous tumors in a transgenic PyMT murine model of breast cancer. The imaging system achieved sensitivity of 98% and selectivity of 95%. We also used our imaging sensor to locate sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in patients with breast cancer using indocyanine green tracer. The surgeon was able to identify 100% of SLNs when using our bio-inspired imaging system, compared to 93% when using information from the lymphotropic dye and 96% when using information from the radioactive tracer.
A wearable all-plastic imaging system for real-time fluorescence image-guided surgery is presented. The compact size of the system is especially suitable for applications in the operating room. The system consists of a dual-mode imaging system, see-through goggle, autofocusing, and auto-contrast tuning modules. The paper will discuss the system design and demonstrate the system performance.
Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent imaging system has been widely used for intraoperative image-guided application. In
this paper, we present performance comparison from three compact NIR fluorescence imaging system prototypes with
goggle display that we developed for intraoperative guidance: threshold detection based two camera system, feature
matching based three cameras system and miniature beam-splitter single camera system. Their performance is evaluated
according to sensitivity regarding different ICG concentrations, accuracy of image overlay between NIR-visible
channels, compactness and practicability in intraoperative use. The comparison results show great potentials of using
these NIR fluorescence imaging systems to improve user experience and surgical outcomes in intraoperative use.
Near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging has shown great potential for various clinical procedures, including intraoperative image guidance. However, existing NIR fluorescence imaging systems either have a large footprint or are handheld, which limits their usage in intraoperative applications. We present a compact NIR fluorescence imaging system (NFIS) with an image overlay solution based on threshold detection, which can be easily integrated with a goggle display system for intraoperative guidance. The proposed NFIS achieves compactness, light weight, hands-free operation, high-precision superimposition, and a real-time frame rate. In addition, the miniature and ultra-lightweight light-emitting diode tracking pod is easy to incorporate with NIR fluorescence imaging. Based on experimental evaluation, the proposed NFIS solution has a lower detection limit of 25 nM of indocyanine green at 27 fps and realizes a highly precise image overlay of NIR and visible images of mice in vivo. The overlay error is limited within a 2-mm scale at a 65-cm working distance, which is highly reliable for clinical study and surgical use.
The near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence signal in the 700 to 900 nm from molecular probes used in fluorescence image-guided surgery (FIGS) is usually weak compared to the NIR component from white light-emitting diode surgical light, which is typically switched off during FIGS to enhance the molecular fluorescence contrast of the image. We propose a simple solution to this critical issue in FIGS by removing NIR light from surgical light with a low cost commercial 3M cool mirror film 330.
We have developed a wearable, fluorescence goggle based system for intraoperative imaging of tumors and image guidance in oncologic surgery. Our system can detect fluorescence from cancer selective near infra-red (NIR) contrast agent, facilitating intraoperative visualization of surgical margins and tumors otherwise not apparent to the surgeon. The fluorescence information is displayed directly to the head mounted display (HMD) of the surgeon in real time, allowing unhindered surgical procedure under image guidance. This system has the potential of improving surgical outcomes in oncologic surgery and reduce the chances of cancer recurrence.
Metal-based nano-wire grid polarizer (NWGP) is widely used in division of focal plane (DoFP) imaging sensors to capture polarization information of the imaged environment. In this paper, we present a procedure for fabricating aluminum pixelated NWGP structures using electron beam lithography (EBL) and reactive ion etching (RIE). We evaluate optical performance of the NWGP structures in terms of different orientations (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°), line widths (50nm to 500nm), and spectral response (460nm to 625nm).
This paper presents different imaging interpolation methods implemented for the division of focal plane polarization
imaging sensor. The targeted polarization imaging sensor is a CCD based sensor with 1-Mega pixels resolution operating
from 400nm to 1050nm wavelength. The five interpolation methods considered in this paper are: bilinear, weighted
bilinear, bicubic spline, an approximated bicubic spline and a bicubic interpolation method. Test images of the five
different interpolation methods as well as numerical error analysis are presented. Based on the comparison results, the
full frame bicubic spline interpolation achieves the best performance for polarization images.
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