Development of a tissue oxygen saturation imaging technique based on electronic endoscopy.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Hypoxemia is linked to diseases like tumors and inflammation, making tissue hypoxia detection crucial for diagnosis.
• Current endoscopic methods for tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) measurement have limitations in range and speed.
• Hyperspectral imaging, while comprehensive, adds complexity to endoscopic systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an endoscopic technique for measuring StO2 in digestive tract tissue.
• To ensure compatibility with existing imaging systems and minimize modifications.
• To utilize fewer spectral bands for a simpler and potentially lower-cost solution.

Main Methods:

• Monte Carlo simulations were used to model light transport and establish a relationship between tissue reflectance and properties.
• A lookup-table-based (LUT) model was developed for hardware-accelerated StO2 measurement.
• Three LED illumination wavelength bands were selected for analysis of StO2 from tissue reflectance spectra.

Main Results:

• A prototype device validated the method's effectiveness and accuracy on tissue-simulating phantoms.
• Experimental results showed good agreement with a visible light spectrophotometer.
• The mean absolute error (MAE) for tissue oxygen values was no more than 4.4%.

Conclusions:

• The developed endoscopic technique effectively assesses StO2 in digestive tract tissue.
• This technology shows high potential for real-time blood oxygen measurement.
• The system is characterized by its simplicity and low-cost attributes.