A dual-modality optical coherence tomography and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy system for simultaneous morphological and biochemical tissue characterization.
Most pathological conditions elicit changes in the tissue optical response that may be interrogated by one or more optical imaging modalities. Any single modality typically only furnishes an incomplete picture of the tissue optical response, hence an approach that integrates complementary optical imaging modalities is needed for a more comprehensive non-destructive and minimally-invasive tissue characterization. We have developed a dual-modality system, incorporating optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), that is capable of simultaneously characterizing the 3-D tissue morphology and its biochemical composition. The Fourier domain OCT subsystem, at an 830 nm center wavelength, provided high-resolution morphological volumetric tissue images with an axial and lateral resolution of 7.3 and 13.4 µm, respectively. The multispectral FLIM subsystem, based on a direct pulse-recording approach (upon 355 nm laser excitation), provided two-dimensional superficial maps of the tissue autofluorescence intensity and lifetime at three customizable emission bands with 100 µm lateral resolution. Both subsystems share the same excitation/illumination optical path and are simultaneously raster scanned on the sample to generate coregistered OCT volumes and FLIM images. The developed OCT/FLIM system was capable of a maximum A-line rate of 59 KHz for OCT and a pixel rate of up to 30 KHz for FLIM. The dual-modality system was validated with standard fluorophore solutions and subsequently applied to the characterization of two biological tissue types: postmortem human coronary atherosclerotic plaques, and in vivo normal and cancerous hamster cheek pouch epithelial tissue.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 337 Zachary Building, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Jesung
J
Park
Javier A
JA
Jo
Sebina
S
Shrestha
Paritosh
P
Pande
Qiujie
Q
Wan
Brian E
BE
Applegate
Opt Lett. 2008 May 15;33(10):1135-7
18483537
Lab Anim. 1990 Jul;24(3):228-33
2395321
Opt Lett. 2010 Aug 1;35(15):2558-60
20680057
Rev Sci Instrum. 2004 Jan;75(1):151-162
35291695
Cancer Res. 2005 Oct 1;65(19):8766-73
16204046
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2002 Jun 1;22(6):1002-7
12067911
Lasers Surg Med. 2006 Apr;38(4):305-13
16596657
Biophys J. 2003 Jul;85(1):572-80
12829511
Appl Opt. 2004 Jan 1;43(1):113-21
14714651
J Biophotonics. 2009 Jul;2(6-7):389-97
19598177
J Biomed Opt. 2004 Jul-Aug;9(4):743-52
15250761
J Biomed Opt. 2004 May-Jun;9(3):618-23
15189101
J Urol. 2005 Dec;174(6):2376-81
16280851
Photochem Photobiol. 2010 May-Jun;86(3):727-31
20331523
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010 Feb;136(2):126-33
20157056
Atherosclerosis. 2009 May;204(1):156-64
18926540
Opt Lett. 2008 Mar 15;33(6):630-2
18347733
Lasers Surg Med. 1992;12(5):510-9
1406004
J Biomed Opt. 2009 May-Jun;14(3):030505
19566287
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Feb 15;89(4):1271-5
1741380
Toxicol Pathol. 2009 Oct;37(6):733-40
19679887