Advances in confocal laser endomicroscopy for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases

Abstract

Confocal laser endomicroscopy covers a growing field of indications in both upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy and beyond. It has been shown to reliably predict the presence of neoplastic lesions and inflammatory changes of the gastrointestinal mucosa during endoscopy. With CLE, 'smart' biopsies can be targeted to regions with microscopic alterations rather than having to rely on blind, untargeted sampling. This results in a reduction in the number of biopsies and in an increase in their diagnostic yield at the same time. Dynamic imaging of microscopic events in their natural environment and molecular imaging by CLE will open a door for an advanced understanding of tissue function and microarchitecture in vivo.

Near-infrared confocal imaging during mini-laparoscopy: A novel rigid endomicroscope with increased imaging plane depth

“…In rodents and pigs, using a rigid confocal laparoscopy probe yielded in vivo microscopy of the liver [11,12]. This has been confirmed in transgastric confocal NOTES in pigs [13,14]. However, a prototype blue laser confocal probe could not reproduce such high resolution imaging of the human liver while demonstrating that sterile intraabdominal confocal imaging was feasible in patients [15].…”