Axicon lens-based cone shell configuration for depth-sensitive fluorescence measurements in turbid media

Dual-axis confocal configuration for depth sensitive fluorescence spectroscopy

The dual-axis confocal (DAC) configuration provides a high axial resolution, long working distance (WD), and large dynamic range. These properties can reveal depth-resolved fluorescence spectra. We present a depth sensitive fluorescence spectroscopy based on the DAC configuration. The system enables high axial resolution of 3.23 µm and a long WD of 3.73 mm compared to that of 4.68 µm and 2.1 mm for comparable single-axis confocal configurations, respectively. Besides, a DAC configuration also offers a superior dynamic range and rejection of out-of-focus scattered light based on the principle of Huygens-Fresnel integrals. Additionally, to locate the target layer, the collection path of the DAC configuration will be used as the other illumination path, forming a dual-axis illumination configuration. These beam paths are used to locate the target layer using a white light imaging system with a commercial low numerical aperture objective. A multi-layer fluorescence phantom of Barrett's esophagus containing fluorescein isothiocyanate and Alexa Fluor 514 was used to verify the principle of depth-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The results show that the DAC configuration can collect fluorescence spectra from microscopic regions with high axial resolution.

Integration of crescent laser beams into dark-field microscopes for enhancing the Raman characterization of micro/nano particles

Dark-field microscopy is widely used to image micro/nano particles or characterize their optical response (scattering spectrum). If laser excitation is incorporated into the microscope, the microscope can further probe chemical (molecular) properties of these objects through Raman scattering. However, when the size of the particles is comparable to or smaller than the characteristic sizes of the laser beam, the conventional setup using on-axis excitation usually suffers from undesired background signals produced by illuminated substrates below the target particles. Therefore, a crescent laser beam possessing a stable shape along the propagation direction is generated by a pair of shifted axicons and then integrated into a dark-field microscope for large oblique angle (i.e., off-axis) excitation. Under this excitation setup, the contrast between Raman and background fluorescence spectra is enhanced by a factor of 4 for a 1 μm polystyrene particle sitting on a glass slide, compared to the conventional excitation configuration. This off-axis excitation based on the crescent beam integrates dark-field imaging with Raman spectroscopy and improves Raman characterization of micro/nano particles.

Snapshot depth sensitive Raman spectroscopy in layered tissues

Depth sensitive Raman spectroscopy has been shown effective in the detection of depth dependent Raman spectra in layered tissues. However, the current techniques for depth sensitive Raman measurements based on fiber-optic probes suffer from poor depth resolution and significant variation in probe-sample contact. In contrast, those lens based techniques either require the change in objective-sample distance or suffer from slow spectral acquisition. We report a snapshot depth-sensitive Raman technique based on an axicon lens and a ring-to-line fiber assembly to simultaneously acquire Raman signals emitted from five different depths in the non-contact manner without moving any component. A numerical tool was developed to simulate ray tracing and optimize the snapshot depth sensitive setup to achieve the tradeoff between signal collection efficiency and depth resolution for Raman measurements in the skin. Moreover, the snapshot system was demonstrated to be able to acquire depth sensitive Raman spectra from not only transparent and turbid skin phantoms but also from ex vivo pork tissues and in vivo human thumbnails when the excitation laser power was limited to the maximum permissible exposure for human skin. The results suggest the great potential of snapshot depth sensitive Raman spectroscopy in the characterization of the skin and other layered tissues in the clinical setting or other similar applications such as quality monitoring of tablets and capsules in pharmaceutical industry requiring the rapid measurement of depth dependent Raman spectra.

Cone-shell Raman spectroscopy (CSRS) for depth-sensitive measurements in layered tissue

We report the development of a depth-sensitive Raman spectroscopy system using the configuration of cone-shell excitation and cone detection. The system uses a 785 nm diode laser and three identical axicons for Raman excitation of the target sample in the form of a hollow conic section. The Raman scattered light from the sample, passed through the same (but solid) conic section, is collected for detection. Apart from its ability of probing larger depths (~ few mm), an important attraction of the system is that the probing depths can be varied by simply varying the separation between axicons in the excitation arm. Furthermore, no adjustment is required in the sample arm, which is a significant advantage for noncontact, depth-sensitive measurement. Evaluation of the performance of the developed setup on nonbiological phantom and biological tissue sample demonstrated its ability to recover Raman spectra of layers located at depths of ~2-3 mm beneath the surface.

Fast photoacoustic-guided depth-resolved Raman spectroscopy: a feasibility study

In this Letter, photoacoustic-guided Raman spectroscopy (PARS) is proposed for a fast depth-resolved Raman measurement with accurate depth localization. The approach was experimentally demonstrated to receive both photoacoustic and Raman signals from a three-layer agar phantom based on a developed synergic photoacoustic-Raman probe, showing strong depth correlation and achieving magnitude of faster operation speed due to photoacoustic time-of-flight measurement and guidance, compared with the conventional depth-resolved Raman spectroscopy method. In addition, further combination with advanced optical-focusing techniques in biological-scattering medium could potentially enable the proposed approach for cancer diagnostics with both tight and fast optical focusing at the desired depth of tumor.

Hollow agarose microneedle with silver coating for intradermal surface-enhanced Raman measurements: a skin-mimicking phantom study

Human intradermal components contain important clinical information beneficial to the field of immunology and disease diagnosis. Although microneedles have shown great potential to act as probes to break the human skin barrier for the minimally invasive measurement of intradermal components, metal microneedles that include stainless steel could cause the following problems: (1) sharp waste production, and (2) contamination due to reuse of microneedles especially in developing regions. In this study, we fabricate agarose microneedles coated with a layer of silver (Ag) and demonstrate their use as a probe for the realization of intradermal surface enhanced Raman scattering measurements in a set of skin-mimicking phantoms. The Ag-coated agarose microneedle quantifies a range of glucose concentrations from 5 to 150 mM inside the skin phantoms with a root-mean-square error of 5.1 mM within 10 s. The needle is found enlarged by 53.9% after another 6 min inside the phantom. The shape-changing capability of this agarose microneedle ensures that there use of these microneedles is impossible, thus avoiding sharp waste production and preventing needle contamination,which shows the great potential for safe and effective needle-based measurements.

Phantom validation of Monte Carlo modeling for noncontact depth sensitive fluorescence measurements in an epithelial tissue model

Experimental investigation and optimization of various optical parameters in the design of depth sensitive optical measurements in layered tissues would require a huge amount of time and resources. A computational method to model light transport in layered tissues using Monte Carlo simulations has been developed for decades to reduce the cost incurred during this process. In this work, we employed the Monte Carlo method to investigate the depth sensitivity achieved by various illumination and detection configurations including both the traditional cone configurations and new cone shell configurations, which are implemented by convex or axicon lenses. Phantom experiments have been carried out to validate the Monte Carlo modeling of fluorescence in a two-layered turbid, epithelial tissue model. The measured fluorescence and depth sensitivity of different illumination–detection configurations were compared with each other. The results indicate excellent agreement between the experimental and simulation results in the trends of fluorescence intensity and depth sensitivity. The findings of this study and the development of the Monte Carlo method for noncontact setups provide useful insight and assistance in the planning and optimization of optical designs for depth sensitive fluorescence measurements.

Multifocal noncontact color imaging for depth-sensitive fluorescence measurements of epithelial cancer

We propose a multifocal noncontact setup to perform depth-sensitive fluorescence imaging on a two-layered epithelial tissue model. The combination of a microlens array and a tunable lens enables the depth of the multifocal plane to be conveniently adjusted without any mechanical movement of the imaging lens or the sample. This advantage is particularly desirable in the clinical setting. Results from the phantom study demonstrate that the setup can achieve depth-sensitive color imaging for fluorescence measurements, which is further confirmed by spectral measurements.