Research Progress of Autofluorescence Imaging Technology in the Diagnosis of Early Gastrointestinal Tumors

Abstract

Early diagnosis and early treatment of gastrointestinal tumors are helpful to improve the prognosis of patients. Endoscopy is the best method for the diagnosis of early gastrointestinal tumors, but some early flat tumors may be missed under conventional white-light endoscopy. In order to improve the accuracy of endoscopic diagnosis of gastrointestinal tumors, especially early flat tumors, endoscopic autofluorescence imaging (AFI) as a new technique has been widely used in clinics in recent years. This article reviews the progress of the clinical application of AFI in the diagnosis of various gastrointestinal tumors.

Design, fabrication, and preclinical testing of a miniaturized, multispectral, chip-on-tip, imaging probe for intraluminal fluorescence imaging of the gastrointestinal tract

“…Autofluorescence imaging has been clinically employed as a diagnostic pathway for flat GI tumors through endoscopic autofluorescence imaging, supporting its utility in a miniaturized chip-on-tip imaging system. [24] When comparing images captured by both the high-resolution MSFI and the miniature multiband fluorescence imaging system, the similarity in tissue autofluorescence pattern is marked. However, images captured by the miniature system are more than 200x smaller, and the overall bit depth of the system is much lower, resulting in a significant loss of detail.…”

Design, fabrication, and preclinical testing of a miniaturized, multispectral, chip-on-tip, imaging probe for intraluminal fluorescence imaging of the gastrointestinal tract

“…Preliminary animal testing has highlighted the system's sensitivity to artificial fluorescent markers as in the studies involving ZsGreen expression; however, results from autofluorescence imaging studies have proven the imaging system to be sensitive to the emissions of endogenous fluorophores. Autofluorescence imaging has been clinically employed as a diagnostic pathway for flat GI tumors through endoscopic autofluorescence imaging, supporting its utility in a miniaturized chip-on-tip imaging system (Bi et al, 2021). When comparing images captured by both the high-resolution MSFI and the miniature multiband fluorescence imaging system, the similarity in tissue autofluorescence pattern is marked.…”

Current Engineering Developments for Robotic Systems in Flexible Endoscopy

“…AFI, as a variant of imaging enhancement technology, uses different fluorescence spectra generated by endogenous fluorescent substances of the lesions and normal tissues 66,67 to distinguish them with an excitation light source. Similar to the CVC above, an AFI system is frequently equipped with excitation light sources and a white light source to enable fast switching between them.…”