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Molecular imaging true-colour spectroscopic optical coherence tomography

Nature Photonics volume 5, pages 744–747 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Molecular imaging holds a pivotal role in medicine due to its ability to provide invaluable insight into disease mechanisms at molecular and cellular levels. To this end, various techniques have been developed for molecular imaging, each with its own advantages and disadvantages1,2,3,4. For example, fluorescence imaging achieves micrometre-scale resolution, but has low penetration depths and is mostly limited to exogenous agents. Here, we demonstrate molecular imaging of endogenous and exogenous chromophores using a novel form of spectroscopic optical coherence tomography. Our approach consists of using a wide spectral bandwidth laser source centred in the visible spectrum, thereby allowing facile assessment of haemoglobin oxygen levels, providing contrast from readily available absorbers, and enabling true-colour representation of samples. This approach provides high spectral fidelity while imaging at the micrometre scale in three dimensions. Molecular imaging true-colour spectroscopic optical coherence tomography (METRiCS OCT) has significant implications for many biomedical applications including ophthalmology, early cancer detection, and understanding fundamental disease mechanisms such as hypoxia and angiogenesis.

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Figure 1: Imaging system and processing for METRiCS OCT.
Figure 2: Tomographic (x–z) images with endogenous contrast.
Figure 3: En face (x–y) image using endogenous contrast, and spectral profiles.
Figure 4: Tomographic (x–z) images with exogenous contrast.
Figure 5: En face (x–y) image using exogenous contrast, and spectral profiles.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NCI 1 R01 CA138594-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering and Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

    Francisco E. Robles & Adam Wax

  2. Medical Physics Program, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

    Francisco E. Robles & Adam Wax

  3. Pediatric Neurosurgery, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

    Christy Wilson & Gerald Grant

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  1. Francisco E. Robles
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  2. Christy Wilson
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  4. Adam Wax
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Contributions

F.E.R. conducted the optical experiments and analysed the data. C.W. and G.G. procured the animal model and carried out animal protocols. F.E.R. and A.W. contributed to the genesis of the idea and wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adam Wax.

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Competing interests

A.W. is the founder and chairman of Oncoscope, which licenses the rights to intellectual property underlying this work.

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Robles, F., Wilson, C., Grant, G. et al. Molecular imaging true-colour spectroscopic optical coherence tomography. Nature Photon 5, 744–747 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2011.257

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