Characterization of an angular domain fluorescence optical projection tomography system for mesoscopic lymph node imaging

Transmittance and fluorescence optical projection tomography can offer high-resolution and high-contrast visualization of whole biological specimens; however, applications are limited to samples exhibiting minimal light scattering. Our previous work demonstrated that angular-domain techniques permitted imaging of similar to l cm diameter noncleared lymph nodes because of their low scattering nature. Here, an angle-restricted transmittance/fluorescence system is presented and characterized in terms of geometric and fluorescence concentration reconstruction accuracy as well as spatial resolution, depth of focus, and fluorescence limits of detection. Using lymph node mimicking phantoms, results demonstrated promising detection and localization capabilities relevant for clinical lymph node applications. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America

Automated summary

Transmittance and fluorescence optical projection tomography can provide high-resolution and high-contrast visualization of whole biological specimens, but their applications are limited by light scattering in samples. A new angle-restricted transmittance/fluorescence system was presented and characterized in terms of reconstruction accuracy, spatial resolution, depth of focus, and fluorescence limits of detection. Results using lymph node mimicking phantoms showed promising capabilities for clinical lymph node applications.