Clinical Reflectance Confocal Microscope for Imaging of Oral Cancer

Biopsy and histopathology remain the standard method for diagnosis of oral cancer in the clinic today. Early detection of oral cancer is fundamental to a higher survival rate, and a non-invasive method is preferred. This is possible through optical imaging techniques. This dissertation describes the design, development and testing of a clinical reflectance confocal microscope for imaging of oral cancer in combination with macroscopic fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM).

A compact bench top reflectance confocal microscope was designed and constructed for use in combination with a bench top FLIM system. The system was evaluated by imaging porcine oral tissue ex vivo and normal and dysplastic hamster cheek pouch tissue in vivo. To facilitate in vivo imaging of the human oral cavity, an electrically tunable lens was integrated in the system for axial scanning and a miniature objective lens was designed and fabricated for access into the oral cavity. Performance of the system was characterized over the full range of axial scanning with the electrically tunable lens. The reflectance confocal microscopy system was tested in combination with macroscopic FLIM by imaging normal and pre-cancerous human oral tissue ex vivo and in vivo in the clinic.