Annular illumination photoacoustic probe for needle guidance in medical interventions

Abstract

During percutaneous medical interventions, accurate needle placement and advancing to the target of interest is required to avoid complications and to improve clinical outcomes. Therefore, we present a novel photoacoustic (PA) imaging-based approach as a complement to conventional ultrasound (US) imaging for visualization and guidance of interventional needles. To overcome the limitations associated with light penetration with the conventional extracorporeal illumination, we propose an interstitial light delivery to the target of interest by use of a custom-made annular illumination probe (AIP). This probe accommodates an interventional needle (14 gauge) within its lumen, allowing to advance both tools and acquire real-time PAUS images simultaneously. The light is delivered utilizing 72 multimode optical fibers arranged around the circumference of the hollow center of the AIP. Preliminary results show that PA images obtained with the AIP provide with good complementary contrast to the US imaging for visualization of the interventional needles and its guidance to an absorbing target within chicken breast tissue.

Quantification of irrigated lesion morphology using near-infrared spectroscopy

“…However, MRI imposes additional cost for compatible equipment. Other groups have demonstrated intraoperative tracking of non-irrigated lesion formation using hyperspectral autofluorescence imaging 11 , 26 , photoacoustic 18 , 55 – 57 , and optical coherence tomography (OCT) 15 , 19 , 22 – 25 . Previously, our group demonstrated lesion depth estimation up to 4 mm using NIRS 12 .…”

Annular Fiber Probe for Interstitial Illumination in Photoacoustic Guidance of Radiofrequency Ablation

“…We observed similar behavior in the simulation; for all numbers of fibers, the most homogeneous fluence distribution occurs approximately at 2 mm depth from the probe for native tissue and at 1.5 mm for ablated tissue ( Figure 2 ). This decrease in depth is likely due to the higher scattering in ablated tissue, lowering the mean free path [ 34 , 37 ]. The difference of this depth at different wavelengths was lower in ablated tissue.…”

“…To overcome the low penetration depth of light, we developed a probe for interstitial illumination. Preliminary results with this probe showed that PA imaging was superior to US imaging in visualizing the RFA needle and an optically absorbing target [ 37 ]. By incorporating optical fibers on the surgical tool tip, light together with the surgical tool can be directed to the region of interest, as first shown by Eddins and Bell (2017) [ 38 ].…”

Light Emitting Diodes Based Photoacoustic and Ultrasound Tomography: Imaging Aspects and Applications

“…PA tomography has been demonstrated for applications such as breast cancer imaging [6,7], thyroid cancer imaging [8], finger joint imaging [9], brain functional imaging [10], and small animal whole-body imaging [11]. An additional advantage of PA imaging is that it can be combined with US imaging as the same transducer can be used for both modalities [3,[12][13][14]. The visualization of PA images in the context of well known US images, with their complementary nature combining structural and functional information is of added value for clinical applications [3,15].…”