Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI) in Paediatric Surgery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Image-guided Surgery in Paediatrics: Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI) as a novel tool to enhance surgical precision.
IRAS ID
280550
Contact name
Stefano Giuliani
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Treatment of diseases that impact vital organs and fundamental functions requires a selective surgical resection.
Paediatric surgeons regularly face with oncological conditions that invade otherwise normal organs. Histology often shows areas of normal tissues that could have been spared, reducing surgical-related morbidity and mortality. In other conditions, as Hirschsprung's disease, the exact detection of normally structured bowel is of fundamental importance, reducing the risk of a vain surgery and the need for re-operation. Intraoperative fresh frozen sections in the “transition zone” can lead to equivocal results and the dependence on extemporary results makes surgery long.
We recognize the relevance of developing an intraoperative method that could reliably guide surgeons in recognizing diseases, reducing dissection time and risks for patients. At present, there is a limited range of imaging techniques suitable for this aim, and a small and rapid tool would be of great clinical value. In the adult population, photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has represented a valuable candidate to obtain tissue-specific images. PAI is a modality that combines spatial resolution to the ability of displaying multiple biological tissues. 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 changing the wavelength of light used, detection of various body components (fat, water and oxygenated and deoxygenated blood) can be obtained.
Most work on PAI has focused on imaging the vasculature. We would like to see whether we are able to generate PAI images of pathological resected tissues. Initially we will determine if a microscopic pattern that could be imaged by PAI is present in paediatric neoplastic tissues / Hirschsprung's disease. Subsequently, we will attempt to obtain images of these tissues straight after resection and we will compare them with histology.REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
20/SS/0051
Date of REC Opinion
28 May 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion