Open AccessIn vivo imaging of cervical precancer using a low-cost and easy-to-use confocal microendoscope
Author(s) -
Yubo Tang,
Alex Kortum,
Sonia Parra,
Imran S. Vohra,
Andrea Milbourne,
Preetha Ramalingam,
Paul A. Toscano,
Kathleen M. Schmeler,
Rebecca RichardsKortum
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.381064
Subject(s) - confocal , computer science , confocal microscopy , preclinical imaging , cervical cancer , medical physics , biomedical engineering , in vivo , medicine , cancer , optics , biology , physics , microbiology and biotechnology
Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates remain high in medically underserved areas. In this study, we present a low-cost (<$5,000), portable and user-friendly confocal microendoscope, and we report on its clinical use to image precancerous lesions in the cervix. The confocal microendoscope employs digital apertures on a digital light projector and a CMOS sensor to implement line-scanning confocal imaging. Leveraging its versatile programmability, we describe an automated aperture alignment algorithm to ensure clinical ease-of-use and to facilitate technology dissemination in low-resource settings. Imaging performance is then evaluated in ex vivo and in vivo pilot studies; results demonstrate that the confocal microendoscope can enhance visualization of nuclear morphology, contributing to significantly improved recognition of clinically important features for detection of cervical precancer.