Browsing by Author "Gawedzinski, John Patrick"

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    Development of cancer screening technologies for imaging nuclear morphology across a large field-of-view
    (2020-04-27) Gawedzinski, John Patrick; Tkaczyk, Tomasz
    Identifying precancerous lesions in epithelial tissue requires identification of both the location of neoplastic tissue and microscopic examination of subcellular features for confirmation. The location of potential lesions is traditionally identified by performing a wide-field colposcopy, while the diagnosis is provided after histopathological examination of excised tissue. This process can be both time-consuming and invasive, requiring multiple follow up visits and time taken to perform these ex vivo examinations. Endomicroscopy is a technique in which an “optical biopsy” is obtained by imaging the tissue-of-interest in vivo with the ability to visualize subcellular features to achieve a diagnosis. While endomicroscopes are both less invasive and able to function as real-time point-of-care devices, they are inherently limited in field-of-view (FOV) by the size of the distal end of probe. This proposal describes the development of a cervical CAncer Screening Patch (CASP) that can image across the entire epithelium of cervical tissue (~25 mm diameter FOV) without sacrificing the ability to resolve subcellular features. The system utilizes an epifluorescence microscope coupled to a custom-machined, high-resolution polymer image guide in contact with the tissue-of-interest. The image guide will be illuminated by an excitation wavelength at the proximal end and relay the fluorescence signal to also be scanned an imaged at the proximal end, outside of the patient body. Here, the image is scanned and algorithmically stitched together to produce a full field-of-view of the tissue in contact with the image guide. Due to the inflexibility, low contrast, and requirement for custom machining of these image guides, we also explore the potential for manufacturing custom high-resolution waveguides using 3D printing technologies.