Development of photoacoustic tomography
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Photoacoustic tomography of normal and abnormal vasculature: Feasibility of in vivo measurements
IRAS ID
206196
Contact name
Andrew Plumb
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2016/05/44, UCL Data Protection Registration Number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death internationally. When planning treatment for most cancers, it is important to know how far it has spread, including whether or not the cancer has spread to the local lymph nodes (LNs) because this affects the treatment strategy. This is termed "staging", and can be achieved by medical imaging, such as by ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. However, these are imperfect, and sometimes incorrect treatment decisions are made because of errors in staging by imaging. Improved accuracy would be of great clinical value for almost all solid organ tumours.
An emerging technique to address this is photoacoustic tomography (PAT), a non-invasive, safe modality that relies on light and sound to generate images. Laser light is applied to the area to be imaged; this is absorbed, and causes the illuminated tissue to emit ultrasound waves. These can be detected and turned into an image by post-processing techniques similar to those used in conventional diagnostic ultrasound. By changing the wavelength of light used, the technique can be adjusted to optimise detection of various body components, including fat, water and both oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. This means the images can represent tissue composition and function rather than just anatomical structure.
Hitherto, most work on PAT has been on healthy volunteers, and has focused on imaging the vasculature. We would like to see whether we are able to generate images of deeper structures inside the body. Initially we will focus on patients with vascular disease, whom we expect to have abnormal blood vessels; and subsequently we will attempt to image tumours and LNs in patients with cancer.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
16/NS/0108
Date of REC Opinion
3 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion