In order for photoacoustic endoscopy to make a significant contribution to clinical gastroenterology, the relevant probes must be implemented in a form that can pass through the instrument channel of a clinical video endoscope or one that has its own camera-based self-steering capability at its distal section to effectively approach a target point. In line with the first direction, multiple probes with a diameter smaller than standard channel sizes have been reported in biomedical photoacoustics research thus far. However, no actual in vivo image acquisition via the instrument channel has been demonstrated yet. In this study, we developed a torque coil-based highly-flexible mini-probe that can provide co-registered optical resolution photoacoustic and ultrasonic images via the standard instrument channel of a video endoscope. With the probe, we were able to acquire in vivo photoacoustic and ultrasonic endoscopic images from a swine esophagus via the instrument channel of a clinical video endoscope, which is the first demonstration in biomedical photoacoustics to the best of our knowledge. In this paper, we describe several useful aspects that we learned from this study and discuss future hardware development directions that must be pursued for the full clinical translation of the mini-probe technology.
KEYWORDS: Endoscopy, Video, Endoscopes, Signal detection, Photoacoustic spectroscopy, In vivo imaging, Tissues, Acoustics, Ultrasonics, Imaging systems
We have developed an integrated photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasonic (US) endoscopy mini-probe system that can provide coregistered PA and US B-scan images at 20 Hz via the 3.8-mm diameter standard instrument channel of a clinical video endoscope. As the probe was adequately implemented in terms of the dimensions required for a typical gastrointestinal endoscopy mini-probe as well as the integrability of the optical and acoustic elements, we could acquire optical-resolution in vivo PA images from the esophagogastric junction of a swine for the first time. We expect that the developed endoscopic technique could make an important contribution to gastrointestinal endoscopy.
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