Oxygen Imaging for Non-Invasive Metastasis Detection

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Cancer Diagnostics
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is crucial for cancer staging but is invasive and can miss small metastases.
• Over-treatment due to false negatives in SLN biopsy leads to patient morbidity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate Photoacoustic Lifetime Imaging (PALI) as a non-invasive tool for detecting cancer metastasis.
• To determine the maximum imaging depth of PALI for assessing its suitability for SLN biopsy applications.

Main Methods:

• Developed and simulated a phantom with tubing in a tissue-mimicking liquid.
• Evaluated PALI's imaging depth using both simulation and experimental approaches.

Main Results:

• PALI demonstrated a maximum imaging depth of 16 mm in simulations and experiments.
• This depth is insufficient for imaging most lymph nodes, which are typically located deeper than 16 mm.

Conclusions:

• PALI shows promise for detecting metastases by imaging tissue oxygenation changes.
• Further research is needed to enhance PALI's imaging depth, potentially using optical fibers, for effective SLN biopsy applications.