A Dark-field Scanning Spectroscopy Platform for Localized Scatter and Fluorescence Imaging of Tissue

ABSTRACT Tissue ultra-structure and molecular composition provide native contrast mechanisms for discriminating across pathologically distinct tissue-types. Multi-modality optical probe designs combined with spatially confined sampling techniques have been shown to be sensitive to this type of contrast but their extension to imaging has only been realized recently. A modular scanning spectroscopy platform has been developed to allow imaging localized morphology and molecular contrast measures in breast cancer surgical specimens. A custom designed dark-field telecentric scanning spectroscopy system forms the core of this imaging platform. The system allows imaging localized elastic scatter and fluorescence measures over fields of up to 15 mm x 15 mm at 100 microns resolution in tissue. Results from intralipid and blood phantom measurements demonstrate the ability of the system to quantify localized scatter parameters despite significant changes in local absorption. A co-registered fluorescence spectroscopy mode is also demonstrated in a protophorphyrin-IX phantom.