Confocal microendoscopy

Abstract

Confocal microendoscopy has been pushed by the improvements in fiber optic technology and the miniaturization of optics and mechanics into the clinical domain. This new imaging technology provides the possibility of analyzing, at the microscopic level, cellular and sub-cellular features in vivo thanks to its high resolution. Together with a wide field fluorescence module, it will be used in animal models to study the performance of potential fl uorescence contrast agents in the NIRF. More specific, the first application of our endoscope will be to study intestinal mucosa tissue using Acri avine as dye in animals which have several tissue alterations, in especial colorectal cancer. This system has been designed to detect visible morphological changes in the mucosa structure that are characteristic from many diseases and conditions. We present an imaging system which will be accessible to everyone due to its reasonable price and flexibility of use.