Delineation of gastrointestinal tumors biopsies using a fluorescence lifetime imaging optical fiber probe

Year: 2024

Authors: Suraci D., Baria E., Tirloni L., Lagarto JL., Buccianti S., Agostini C., Pillozzi S., Antonuzzo L., Taddei A., Cicchi R.

Autors Affiliation: European Lab Nonlinear Spect LENS, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Natl Res Council CNR INO, Natl Inst Opt, Lgo E Fermi 6, I-50125 Florence, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Phys, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Careggi Univ Hosp, Hepatobiliopancreat Surg, Florence, Italy; Champalimaud Fdn, Biophoton Platform, Lisbon, Portugal; Univ Florence, Dept Expt & Clin Biomed Sci Mario Serio, Florence, Italy; Careggi Univ Hosp, Clin Oncol Unit, Florence, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Expt Clin Med, Florence, Italy.

Abstract: Autofluorescence spectroscopy has emerged in recent years as a powerful tool to report label-free contrast between normal and diseased tissues, both in vivo and ex-vivo. We report the application of an instrument employing an optical fiber probe and capable of performing real-time autofluorescence lifetime imaging at a macroscopic scale, under bright background conditions. We validate and demonstrate the practicality of this technology to discriminate healthy against neoplastic tissue in freshly excised tumor biopsies. The capability of delineating tumor margins through processing the fluorescence decays in the phasors domain was demonstrated on four different types of cancer, highlighting the broad range of potential clinical applications for the proposed approach. The presented results suggest that our autofluorescence lifetime imaging probe, together with phasor analysis, can offer a real-time tool to observe lifetime contrast on tissues and, thus, is a suitable candidate for improving in situ tissue diagnostics during surgery. The efficient discrimination of a hepatic cancer lesion and its surgical margin using autofluorescence lifetime imaging is presented. White light image of the specimen on the left and the augmented image with fluorescence lifetime data on the right. Our optical fiber-based setup opens new possibilities for using this technology in surgeries across different cancer types. image

Journal/Review: JOURNAL OF BIOPHOTONICS

More Information: The research leading to these results has received funding from: Fondo di Beneficenza di Intesa Sanpaolo in the framework of the project ALIAS, grant number B/2022/0196 and from European Union-Next Generation EU, in the framework of the program PRIN 2022, grant number 2022Y9YP9C. Progetto IMPARA-Imaging dalle molecole alla preclinica-cod. PIR01_00023 PON R&I 2014-2020-Avviso 424/2018 Azione II.1. Open access publishing facilitated by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, as part of the Wiley – CRUI-CARE agreement.
KeyWords: augmented reality; autofluorescence; fiber optics; FLIM; fluorescence lifetime imaging; fluorescence spectroscopy; real-time imaging; surgical guidance; TCSPC; tissue interrogation
DOI: 10.1002/jbio.202400122


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