Development of an ex vivo quantitative spectroscopic scanner

Abstract

We describe an ex vivo quantitative spectroscopy (QS) scanning platform which enables integration of different optical modalities for the assessment of ex vivo tissue properties. As a first implementation, the QS scanner combines diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy (IFS) to provide a multidimensional image of tissue structural and biochemical properties. The wide area coverage is achieved by mechanically scanning of the optical probe. The spectroscopic data is taken one grid at a time with variable grid-to-grid (GTG) distance and field of view (FOV). The ex vivo tissue surface under examination can have a variable size since both GTG distance and FOV can be controlled. We demonstrate the clinical utility of this system using an ex vivo tissue model with ultimate goal of imaging excised tissue margins