Flow imaging using Indocyanine Green (ICG) and a clinical fluorescence surgical imaging system allows us to characterize the vascular nature within and around tumors. Using these fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) techniques has many advantages, providing a low cost, easy-to-use, real-time imaging solution for clinical diagnosis and contrast enhancement during surgery. Currently, our research focuses on human pancreatic cancer cell lines, which we inject into mouse models for Near-Infrared (NIR) imaging. This research has many applications, such as tracking response to therapies or assessing margins during tissue assessment. Our lab also partners with many other labs, UW research cores, universities, and industry partners to enhance the clinical capabilities of these systems and combine imaging technologies.
Our lab is equipped with a Medtronic EleVision NIR Fluorescence Imaging System. This system is approved for human use, but is exclusively used for research purposes. FGS systems use a red laser to excite fluorophores, such as ICG. These fluorophores emit light in the NIR spectrum, which cannot be perceived by our eyes but can still be imaged by a camera. The NIR light is picked up with an NIR camera, located directly adjacent to a normal white light camera. The NIR image and the white light image can be combined, providing visualization of where the fluorophore is located inside of anatomical structures.
Our lab has used fluorescence data to produce visual maps of fluorescent areas over time. Each pixel has its own light intensity curve, and analysis of individual pixels can produce stunning color images, which have diagnostic value.
WIMR is an ideal location for FGS research. Our proximity to the Small Animal Imaging and Radiation Facility (SAIRF) gives us open access to imaging tools essential to what we do. We are surrounded by industry partners and imaging labs, making it easy to not only develop new imaging technologies, but more directly translate them to clinical use.
