Versatile and comprehensive hyperspectral imaging tool for molecular neuronavigation: a case study on cerebral...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Neurosurgical Oncology
• Molecular Imaging

Background:

• Accurate brain tumor characterization is crucial for neurosurgery but faces challenges with current imaging and histopathology methods.
• Preoperative imaging can be unreliable during surgery due to brain shift, and histopathology delays treatment decisions.
• There is a need for real-time, label-free tools for intraoperative guidance and early tissue assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a hyperspectral imaging system, HyperProbe1.1 (HP1.1), for comprehensive, label-free molecular and metabolic characterization of brain tissue.
• To enable real-time, spatially resolved biomolecular information for improved surgical guidance and tissue assessment.

Main Methods:

• HP1.1 captures reflectance and ultraviolet-excited autofluorescence images across narrow spectral bands.
• The system maps hemoglobin, cytochrome c oxidase, oxygen saturation, and metabolic cofactors like nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide.
• Validation was performed using standardized phantoms and ex vivo glioma samples.

Main Results:

• HP1.1 successfully detected spectral features in phantoms and distinguished glioma tissues by histological grade.
• The system generated rapid, spatially resolved molecular contrast maps.
• Demonstrated strong performance in label-free tissue assessment.

Conclusions:

• HP1.1 provides high-content, rapid, label-free biomolecular imaging.
• This system is a powerful platform for noninvasive tissue assessment in experimental settings.
• HP1.1 shows promise for future intraoperative neurosurgical applications.