Welcome to the Research Group Microendoscopy
Our group focuses on development of high resolution miniaturized endoscopic devices for applications ranging from gastroenterology to oncology. Until now, the only way to perform histopathological analysis on diseased tissue was to take biopsies from the diseased area. We aim to change this paradigm and perform optical biopsies at the site of the disease where tissue is in its native state. Our endoscopes operate in the visible and near infrared spectral ranges and are based on optical concepts such as confocal microscopy, two photon microscopy and optical coherence tomography. Two main areas that we are currently interested in are studying inflammatory bowel disease and measurement of biomechanical properties of tissue.
Team Members: Gargi Sharma, Muktesh Mohan, Maria Romodina
Multifocal confocal microscopy
To study the internal luminal organs such as the GI tract, a flexible endoscope with a few millimeters diameter is required. Several flexible endoscopic confocal imaging systems have been demonstrated. Unfortunately, such images are restricted to a single plane of the tissue and do not provide three-dimensional images of the tissue. Using the chromatic dispersion property of light, one may achieve a multifocal confocal microscopy system while maintaining a comparable lateral resolution. In this project, we have developed an ultralong imaging range (2 cm) chromatic confocal microscopy system with cellular-level spatial resolution. We used the exceptional chromatic dispersion properties of Zinc Selenide material to achieve the extension in the imaging range
Team Members: Gargi Sharma, Muktesh Mohan, Maria Romodina
Polarisation-based label-free high contrast imaging
A major research direction of our group is to develop high-contrast label-free imaging techniques. In this direction, we have developed polarisation contrast-based endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging techniques. Polarisation-based OCT systems exploit the birefringence and depolarisation properties of the tissue to achieve additional contrast between the different structures. Using the developed techniques, we have acquired high-contract imaging of different tissues. We believe that the simplified cross-polarised optical coherence tomography systems we have developed will be useful diagnostic tools in pathological studies.
Team Members: Gargi Sharma, Muktesh Mohan, Maria Romodina, Katharina Blessing, Asha Parmar
Hyperspectral imaging
To study the internal luminal organs such as the GI tract, a flexible endoscope with a few millimeters diameter is required. Several flexible endoscopic confocal imaging systems have been demonstrated. Unfortunately, such images are restricted to a single plane of the tissue and do not provide three-dimensional images of the tissue. Using the chromatic dispersion property of light, one may achieve a multifocal confocal microscopy system while maintaining a comparable lateral resolution. In this project, we have developed an ultralong imaging range (2 cm) chromatic confocal microscopy system with cellular-level spatial resolution. We used the exceptional chromatic dispersion properties of Zinc Selenide material to achieve the extension in the imaging range
Team Members: Gargi Sharma, Muktesh Mohan, Maria Romodina
Low-cost tethered capsule for multimodal upper GI tract imaging
Endoscopy is an integral part of the healthcare system. Endoscopic devices based on white light imaging, narrow band imaging and autofluorescence imaging are the most commonly used ones. Even being around for more than two centuries, endoscopy is still accessible to only a few privileged and that too with a major cost burden. In this project, we have developed a low-cost smart-phone compatible endoscopic platform for imaging the upper GI tract in low-resource settings. The smart-phone compatible endoscopic platform which is based on a low-cost USB camera can be modified to acquire images for one of the three imaging modalities, i.e. white-light imaging, narrow-band imaging, or fluorescence/autofluorescence imaging.
Team Members: Gargi Sharma, Katharina Blessing
Skin elastography
To study the internal luminal organs such as the GI tract, a flexible endoscope with a few millimeters diameter is required. Several flexible endoscopic confocal imaging systems have been demonstrated. Unfortunately, such images are restricted to a single plane of the tissue and do not provide three-dimensional images of the tissue. Using the chromatic dispersion property of light, one may achieve a multifocal confocal microscopy system while maintaining a comparable lateral resolution. In this project, we have developed an ultralong imaging range (2 cm) chromatic confocal microscopy system with cellular-level spatial resolution. We used the exceptional chromatic dispersion properties of Zinc Selenide material to achieve the extension in the imaging range
Team Members: Asha Parmar, Maria Romodina
Contact
Research Group Dr. Kanwarpal Sing
MPI for the Science of Light
Staudtstr. 2
91058 Erlangen, Germany
Research team leader Dr. Kanwarpal Singh
