PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | March 13, 2013
Proc. SPIE. 8574, Multimodal Biomedical Imaging VIII
KEYWORDS: Optical imaging, Near infrared, Tissues, Surgery, Imaging systems, Luminescence, Arteries, Oxygen, Tissue optics, Image-guided intervention
There is a pressing clinical need to provide image guidance during surgery. Currently, assessment of tissue that needs to be resected or avoided is performed subjectively, leading to a large number of failures, patient morbidity, and increased healthcare costs. Because near-infrared (NIR) optical imaging is safe, noncontact, inexpensive, and can provide relatively deep information (several mm), it offers unparalleled capabilities for providing image guidance during surgery. These capabilities are well illustrated through the clinical translation of fluorescence imaging during oncologic surgery. In this work, we introduce a novel imaging platform that combines two complementary NIR optical modalities: oxygenation imaging and fluorescence imaging. We validated this platform during facial reconstructive surgery on large animals approaching the size of humans. We demonstrate that NIR fluorescence imaging provides identification of perforator arteries, assesses arterial perfusion, and can detect thrombosis, while oxygenation imaging permits the passive monitoring of tissue vital status, as well as the detection and origin of vascular compromise simultaneously. Together, the two methods provide a comprehensive approach to identifying problems and intervening in real time during surgery before irreparable damage occurs. Taken together, this novel platform provides fully integrated and clinically friendly endogenous and exogenous NIR optical imaging for improved image-guided intervention during surgery.
