Real-time visualization and assessment of oxygen levels has numerous implications in surgery and medicine. Protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) is an endogenous heme precursor molecule that possesses a unique delayed-fluorescence characteristic that is quenched by oxygen, allowing it potentially function as an in-vivo oxygen sensor. PPIX can be induced through the administration of the FDA-approved drug 5-aminolevulenic acid (5-ALA), which is traditionally used in brain tumor resection surgery. Our goal is to exploit PPIX delayed-fluorescence to image tissue hypoxia. This has direct oncological implications, as this modality aims to assess oxygen levels across tumor types and tumor locations.
