A system for endoscopic mechanically scanned localized proton MR and light-induced fluorescence emission...

Molecular and near-cellular modalities offer new opportunities in assessing living tissue in situ, and multimodality approaches, which offer complementary information, may lead to improved characterization of tissue pathophysiology benefiting diagnosis and focal therapy. However, many such modalities are limited by their low penetration through tissue, which has led to minimally invasive trans-cannula approaches to place the corresponding sensors locally at the area of interest. This work presents a system for performing localized fluorescence emission and proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopies via endoscopic access. The in-house developed side-firing 1.9-mm wide dual-sensor integrates a three-fiber optical sensor for fluorescence emission optical spectroscopy and a 1-mm circular radiofrequency (RF) coil for localized MR proton spectroscopy. An MR-compatible manipulator was developed for carrying and mechanically translating the dual-sensor along a linear access channel. The hardware and software control of the system allows reconfigurable synchronization of the manipulator-assisted translation of the sensor, and MR and optical data collection. The manipulator serves as the mechanical link for the three modalities and MR images, MR spectra and optical spectra are inherently co-registered to the MR scanner coordinate system. These spectra were then used to generate spatio-spectral maps of the fluorophores and proton MR-signal sources in three-compartment phantoms with optically- and MR-visible, and distinguishable, materials. These data demonstrate a good spatial match between MR images, MR spectra and optical spectra along the scanned path. In addition to basic research, such a system may have clinical applications for assessing and characterizing cancer in situ, as well as guiding focal therapies.