Capsule optoacoustic endoscopy for esophageal imaging

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Esophageal cancer detection requires sensitive, non-invasive imaging capable of 360° analysis.
• Current catheter-based optoacoustic endoscopy (COE) is effective in small animals but unsuitable for human esophageal screening due to limitations in stability, coupling, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel capsule COE system designed for high-quality, 360° imaging of the human esophagus.
• To overcome the limitations of previous COE systems for human esophageal screening.

Main Methods:

• Development of a pill-shaped capsule COE probe with a highly sensitive ultrasound transducer and integrated miniature pre-amplifier.
• Helical scanning mechanism for capturing 3D images with uniform quality.
• Ex vivo imaging of swine esophageal lining to a depth of 2 mm.

Main Results:

• The capsule COE system achieved a 10 dB increase in SNR due to the pre-amplifier, minimizing signal transmission artifacts.
• Demonstrated the first ex vivo volumetric vascular network imaging in swine esophagus using COE.
• Vascular information was resolved in mucosal and submucosal layers, confirmed by histology (H&E, CD31 staining).

Conclusions:

• The novel capsule COE system offers a promising solution for non-invasive, high-resolution 360° imaging of the human esophagus.
• This technology creates new opportunities for early screening and monitoring of esophageal cancer.