Experimental evaluation of a hyperspectral imager for near-infrared fluorescent contrast agent studies

摘要

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) systems have the potential to combine morphological and spectral information to provide detailed and high sensitivity readouts in biological and medical applications. As HSI enables simultaneous detection in several spectral bands, the technology has significant potential for use in real-time multiplexed contrast agent studies. Examples include tumor detection in intraoperative and endoscopic imaging as well as histopathology. A multiplexed readout from multiple disease targets, such as cell surface receptors overexpressed in cancer cells, could improve both sensitivity and specificity of tumor identification. Here, we evaluate a commercial, compact, near-infrared HSI sensor that has the potential to enable low cost, video rate HSI for multiplexed fluorescent contrast agent studies in biomedical applications. The hyperspectral imager, based on a monolithically integrated Fabry-Perot etalon, has 70 spectral bands between 600-900 nm, making it ideal for this application. Initial calibration of the imager was performed to determine wavelength band response, quantum efficiency and the effect of F-number on the spectral response. A platform for wide-field fluorescence imaging in reflectance using fluorophore specific LED excitation was then developed. The applicability of the imaging platform for simultaneous readout of multiple fluorophore signals was demonstrated using a dilution series of Alexa Fluor 594 and Alexa Fluor 647, showing that nanomolar fluorophore concentrations can be detected. Our results show that the HSI system can clearly resolve the emission spectra of the two fluorophores in mixtures of concentrations across several orders of magnitude, indicating a high dynamic range performance. We therefore conclude that the HSI sensor tested here is suitable for detecting fluorescence in biomedical imaging applications.