An estimate of more than 400,000 gastrostomy tubes (G-tubes) is placed annually in the United States. However, the poor organ visualization in endoscopy, ionizing radiation in fluoroscopy, US imaging artifacts, and limited point-of-care solutions limit the efficacy of image-guided G-tube placement procedures. Herein, we propose to develop a safe, point-of-care photoacoustic (PA) image-guidance system which utilizes a dual-wavelength approach for detecting the tissue’s endogenous and exogenous contrast agent for accurate G-tube placements. Our preliminary studies indicated that PA imaging accurately detected the dye-labeled colon-mimic, providing high contrast, artifact-free images of the introducer fiber superimposed on the US highlighted tissue background.
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