Abstract
An estimated 1.6 million breast biopsies are performed in the US each year. In order to provide real-time, in-vivo imaging with sub-cellular resolution for optical biopsies, we have designed an ultra-slim objective to fit inside the 1-mm-diameter hypodermic needles currently used for breast biopsies to image tissue stained by the fluorescent probe proflavine. To ensure high-quality imaging performance, experimental tests were performed to characterize fiber bundle’s light-coupling efficiency and simulations were performed to evaluate the impact of candidate lens materials’ autofluorescence. A prototype of NA = 0.4, 250-µm field of view, ultra-slim objective optics was built and tested, yielding diffraction-limited performance and estimated resolution of 0.9 µm. When used in conjunction with a commercial coherent fiber bundle to relay the image formed by the objective, the measured resolution was 2.5 µm.
Highlights
An estimated 1.6 million breast biopsies are performed in the US each year [1]
We have presented a design for an ultra-slim, 0.8-mm clear aperture diameter microendoscope objective that balances the tradeoffs of conventional imaging to produce an optical-biopsy system intended for real-time, in-vivo imaging for diagnosis of breast cancer
This design builds on the experience gained from previous systems which our group has designed [9,16,27] and is the most compact form yet in order to match the requirements of optical biopsy
Summary
An estimated 1.6 million breast biopsies are performed in the US each year [1]. The current clinical procedure is to use surgical biopsy, core needle biopsy or fine needle aspiration to acquire pathologic specimens in areas of tissue that have been classified as abnormal using PET or MRI. The tissue acquired may not contain enough viable cells or may not contain cells from the malignant section of the tumor complicating the diagnosis by potentially requiring additional biopsies or resulting in misdiagnosis This process of cell extraction and staining does not allow for real-time diagnosis. To be consistent with the current tissue-removal biopsy techniques, an optical-biopsy system would need to produce images of cell morphology for the pathologist to examine and have a similar outer diameter as the needles currently used for needle biopsies (0.6–3 mm). The objective of this system, whose lateral resolution is approximately 1.5 μm, utilizes gradient-index lenses, which cannot be achromatized and inherently suffer from spatial and chromatic aberrations To add to this category of microendoscopes, we have designed an all-plastic, ultra-slim objective to fit inside the 1-mm inner diameter of hypodermic needles (18 gauge) currently used for breast biopsies. This paper describes conventional lens imaging limitations and tradeoffs found as the size of the objective decreases into the sub-millimeter range, as well as experimental measurements to estimate light-coupling limitations and the impact of autofluorescence of candidate lens materials
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