Imaging of IR700DX Labeled Mouse Breast Tumor Using a Custom Angle-Selective Fluorescence Contact Imaging System

Cancer treatment faces the challenge of identifying small clusters of residual tumor cells in the resection cavity after the gross section of tumor is surgically removed. Despite the introduction of targeted fluorescent probes to guide cancer surgeries, large, bulky, optical components restrict the ability of fluorescence imaging devices to detect small clusters of tumor cells in the complex surgical cavity. We have developed a small size-scale contact fluorescence image sensor that incorporates angle-selective gratings and a thin 15 m amorphous silicon optical wavelength filter for detecting residual cancer tissue in vivo. Using a custom fluorescent probe combining a fluorescent dye, IR700DX, with a targeted antibody, Trastuzumab, we label and visualize breast tissue in in vivo mouse models of breast cancer. When imaging tumorbearing mice injected with the probe, HER2+ breast cancer tissue intensity is 3.80.8 times brighter than other tissue. Excised cancer tumors and residual cancer attached to healthy tissue are imaged using the custom image sensor. Residual cancer tissue can be detected in real-time and is imaged with a high SNR of 45 dB using an integration time of only 40 ms.