Imaging systems for minimally invasive molecular guided cancer surgeries

Cancer continues to pose a significant threat to the lives of millions of people worldwide. In addition to causing physical distress to the patients from standard regimen, it also impacts their social life and emotional state due to fear of resurgence, grief, and depression. Early detection is critical for a high five-year survival rate and timely treatment. Among many modalities available today to improve cancer treatment, intraoperative near-infrared molecular imaging used in conjunction with endoscopic surveillance and surgeries is emerging as a promising approach that could enable timely detection of cancer. It combines the benefits of using highly specific tumor targeted probes and enhanced visualization of the surgical site in real-time during surveillance or surgery, potentially improving patient outcomes. Despite the gains provided by this novel multimodal platform, there are several limitations that could impede its effectiveness. These challenges include inter- and intra- tumor heterogeneity which could limit the efficacy of systems optimized to detect a single probe, risk of photobleaching during surgical manipulation of the endoscope that could result in failure to detect cancer, and potential damage to vital structures due to reduced perception of depth from visualizing fluorescence information on 2D-displays. This dissertation proposes addressing these challenges mainly by using two endoscopic systems. The first one features multiple probe imaging using a single-chip imaging sensor to enhance the sensitivity and specificity of cancer detection, while the latter detects a single tracer but exhibits high sensitivity to reduce the risk of probe photobleaching. A third system, which utilizes a holographic display to enhance depth perception during cancer surgery, is also presented.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• George, Mebin Babu

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gruev,, Viktor
• Kim, Kyekyoon
• Nie, Shuming
• Choi, Hyungsoo

• Fluorescence Guided Surgery
• Cancer Surgery
• Endoscopy
• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Photobleaching
• Image Sensors
• Augmented Reality

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Mebin Babu George

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121248

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F121248