Tracking medical devices using time-corrrelated single photon counting imaging

最近，我们展示了一种使用时间相关的单光子计数成像来跟踪体内光纤医疗设备的新技术(M.G.Tanner等人，“用于定位光学内窥镜纤维的弹道和蛇形光子成像”，Bied)。选择。快线8,4077-4095(2017))。这项技术的工作原理是将光纤的末端用作短脉冲光的点源。通过以与时间相关的单光子计数方式成像组织的外表面，我们可以选择性地检测从组织中出现的最初几个光子，而不是随后出现的高度漫射的光子云。这些最初的几个光子提供了有关光纤在体内的位置的惊人的准确信息。这个项目建立在最近在这一领域获得STFC-CLAP项目的基础上，旨在探索这项技术的局限性，目的是推动它走向临床开发。

Very recently we have demonstrated a new technique to track fibre-optic medical devices inside the body using time-correlated single photon counting imaging (M. G. Tanner et al, "Ballistic and snake photon imaging for locating optical endomicroscopy fibres," Biomed. Opt. Express 8, 4077-4095 (2017)). The technique works by using the end of the fibre optic as a point source of short pulses of light. By imaging the external surface of the tissue in a time-correlated single photon counting manner, we can selectively detect the first few photons that emerge from the tissue with less scattering than the highly diffuse photon cloud that emerges later on. These first few photons provide remarkable accurate information about the location of the fibre optic inside the body. This project, which builds on a very recently awarded STFC-CLASP project in this area, will aim to explore the limitations of this technique, with the aim of driving it towards clinical exploitation.