SU‐E‐J‐197: A Novel Optical Interstitial Fiber Spectroscopic System for Real‐Time Tissue Micro‐Vascular Hemodynamics Monitoring

Purpose: To demonstrate a novel interstitial optical fiber spectroscopic system, based on diffuse optical spectroscopies with spectral fitting, for the simultaneous monitoring of tumor blood volume and oxygen tension. The technique provides real‐time, minimally‐invasive and quantification of tissue micro‐vascular hemodynamics. Methods: An optical fiber prototype probe characterizesthe optical transport in tissue between two large Numerical Aperture (NA) fibers of 200μm core diameter (BFH37‐200, ThorLabs) spaced 3‐mm apart. Two 21‐Ga medical needles are used to protect fiber ends and to facilitate tissue penetration with minimum local blunt trauma in nude mice with xenografts. A 20W white light source (HL‐2000‐HP, Ocean Optics) is coupled to one fiber with SMA adapter. The other fiber is used to collect light, which is coupled into the spectrometer (QE65000 with Spectrasuite Operating software and OmniDriver, Ocean Optics). The wavelength response of the probe depends on the wavelength dependence of the light source, and of the light signal collection that includes considerable scatter, modeled with Monte‐Carlo techniques (S. Jacques 2010 J. of Innov. Opt. Health Sci. 2 123–9). Measured spectra of tissue are normalized by a measured spectrum of a white standard, yielding the transmission spectrum. A head‐and‐neck xenograft on the flank of a live mouse is used for development. Results: The optical fiber probe delivers and collects light at an arbitrary depth in the tumor. By spectral fitting of the measured transmission spectrum, an analysis of blood volume and oxygen tension is obtained from the fitting parameters in real time. Conclusions: A newly developed optical fiber spectroscopic system with an optical fiber probe takes spectroscopic techniques to a much deeper level in a tumor, which has potential applications for real‐time monitoring hypoxic cell population dynamics for an eventual adaptive therapy metric of particular use in hypofractionated radiotherapy.