In vivo 783-channel diffuse reflectance imaging system and its application.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Spectroscopy
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Diffuse reflectance imaging offers a non-invasive method for tissue analysis.
• Accurate absorption spectroscopic imaging requires robust signal processing techniques.
• Existing methods may face challenges with optical inhomogeneities in biological tissues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a fiber-based reflectance imaging system for in vivo absorption spectroscopy.
• To introduce and evaluate a novel spectral normalization method for image reconstruction.
• To demonstrate the system's feasibility for biomedical applications.

Main Methods:

• Construction of a fiber-based probe with 253 illumination and 530 detection fibers.
• Utilizing an electron multiplying CCD camera for rapid data acquisition.
• Reconstruction of diffuse reflectance images using a devised spectral normalization method.

Main Results:

• Phantom experiments with chicken breast and Delrin resin demonstrated the effectiveness of spectral normalization.
• Comparison with reference signal normalization showed advantages of the devised method.
• Successful in vivo imaging of a human vein was achieved, validating the system's applicability.

Conclusions:

• The developed fiber-based system enables in vivo absorption spectroscopic imaging.
• The spectral normalization method enhances image quality and accuracy.
• The system shows significant potential for various biomedical diagnostic applications.