Multispectral Depth-Resolved Fluorescence Lifetime Spectroscopy Using SPAD Array Detectors and Fiber Probes

Sensors

FrancescoSaverio Pavone¹  Vladislav Shcheslavskiy²  Franco Zappa³  Federica Villa³  Caterina Credi⁴  Simone Tisa⁵  JoãoL. Lagarto⁶  Riccardo Cicchi⁶ 

[1] Hickl GmbH, Nunsdorfer Ring 7-9, 12277 Berlin, Germany;;Becker &Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria (DEIB), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy;European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), Via Nello Carrara 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy;Micro Photon Device SRL, Via Waltraud Gebert Deeg 3g, I-39100 Bolzano, Italy;National Institute of Optics, National Research Council (INO-CNR), Via Nello Carrara 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy;

关键词: SPAD;    CMOS;    fluorescence spectroscopy;    fluorescence lifetime;    depth-resolved fluorescence;    tissue diagnosis;    fiber optics;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s19122678

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays are increasingly exploited and have demonstrated potential in biochemical and biomedical research, both for imaging and single-point spectroscopy applications. In this study, we explore the application of SPADs together with fiber-optic-based delivery and collection geometry to realize fast and simultaneous single-point time-, spectral-, and depth-resolved fluorescence measurements at 375 nm excitation light. Spectral information is encoded across the columns of the array through grating-based dispersion, while depth information is encoded across the rows thanks to a linear arrangement of probe collecting fibers. The initial characterization and validation were realized against layered fluorescent agarose-based phantoms. To verify the practicality and feasibility of this approach in biological specimens, we measured the fluorescence signature of formalin-fixed rabbit aorta samples derived from an animal model of atherosclerosis. The initial results demonstrate that this detection configuration can report fluorescence spectral and lifetime contrast originating at different depths within the specimens. We believe that our optical scheme, based on SPAD array detectors and fiber-optic probes, constitute a powerful and versatile approach for the deployment of multidimensional fluorescence spectroscopy in clinical applications where information from deeper tissue layers is important for diagnosis.

【 授权许可】

Unknown