title: Performance evaluation of endoscopic Cerenkov luminescence imaging system: in vitro and pseudotumor studies.
abstract: By integrating the clinically used endoscope with the emerging Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) technology, a new endoscopic Cerenkov luminescence imaging (ECLI) system was developed. The aim is to demonstrate the potential of translating CLI to clinical studies of gastrointestinal (GI) tract diseases. We systematically evaluated the feasibility and performance of the developed ECLI system with a series of in vitro and pseudotumor experiments. The ECLI system is comprised of an electron multiplying charge coupled device (EMCCD) camera coupled with a clinically used endoscope via an optical adapter. A 1951-USAF test board was used to measure the white-light lateral resolution, while a homemade test chart filled with (68)Ga was employed to measure the CL lateral resolution. Both in vitro and pseudotumor experiments were conducted to obtain the sensitivity of the ECLI system. The results were validated with that of CLI using EMCCD only, and the relative attenuation ratio of the ECLI system was calculated. Results showed that The white-light lateral resolution of the ECLI system was 198 µm, and the luminescent lateral resolution was better than 1 mm. Sensitivity experiments showed a theoretical sensitivity of [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) and [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) for the in vitro and pseudotumor studies, respectively. The relative attenuation ratio of ECLI to CLI was about 96%. The luminescent lateral resolution of the ECLI system was comparable with that of positron emission tomography (PET). The pseudotumor study illustrated the feasibility and applicability of the ECLI system in living organisms, indicating the potential for translating the CLI technology to the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China ; These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China ; These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Xueli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China.
authors.forename: Yenan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China.
authors.forename: Muhan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China .
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China .
authors.forename: Yongzhan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China .
authors.forename: Kaichun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China ; wangjing@fmmu.eud.cn.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China.
authors.forename: Jimin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging of the Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710071, China ; Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China ; tian@ieee.org.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
keywords: (170.3660) Light propagation in tissues; (170.6935) Tissue characterization; (170.7050) Turbid media