Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector enhanced near-infrared II portable confocal microscopy for tissue imaging with indocyanine green

In this Letter a novel, to our knowledge, approach for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence portable confocal microscopy is introduced, aiming to enhance fluorescence imaging of biological samples in the NIR-II window. By integrating a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) into a confo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2024-11, Vol.49 (22), p.6349
Main Authors: Liu, Yifan, Yao, Cheng-You, Rambo, Timothy M, Li, Bo, Juhong, Aniwat, Doredla, Jeremy S, Luker, Gary D, Han, Ming, Miller, Aaron J, Qiu, Zhen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological properties
Electric Conductivity
Fluorescence
Humans
Image resolution
Indocyanine Green - chemistry
Infrared imaging
Infrared Rays
Microscopy
Microscopy, Confocal - instrumentation
Nanowires
Nanowires - chemistry
Near infrared radiation
Photons
Portability
Signal to noise ratio
Superconductivity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this Letter a novel, to our knowledge, approach for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence portable confocal microscopy is introduced, aiming to enhance fluorescence imaging of biological samples in the NIR-II window. By integrating a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) into a confocal microscopy, we have significantly leveraged the detection efficiency of the NIR-II fluorescence signal from indocyanine green (ICG), an FDA-approved dye known for its NIR-II fluorescence capabilities. The SNSPD, characterized by its extremely low dark count rate and optimized NIR system detection efficiency, enables the excitation of ICG with 1 mW and the capture of low-light fluorescence signals from deep regions (up to 512 µm). Consequently, our technique was able to produce high-resolution images of bio samples with a superior signal-to-noise ratio, making a substantial advancement in the field of fluorescence microscopy and offering a promising opportunity for future clinical study.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.537612