Translational medical optics and photonics

Optics and photonics play a crucial role in modern medicine, revolutionizing diagnostics, treatment, and research. Their ability to manipulate and utilize light enables high-precision tools and techniques that improve patient care. The Translational Medical optics and Photonics group sets out to understand underlying mechanisms and to find the clinical value of light employing technologies developed in the biomedical optics group. The key areas where optics and photonics are essential are diagnostics, surgical solutions and therapeutics.

This involves imaging modalities like optical coherence tomography (OCT), confocal endo-microscopy, and fluorescence imaging, all providing detailed images of tissues and cells, aiding in early disease detection, treatment follow-up and surgical guidance. For the aforementioned technologies, we develop novel quantitative strategies to aid detection and differentiation of suspected lesions or to quantify physiological parameters to support surgery. This is either physics based, using light-tissue interaction theory or AI based strategies.

We also develop light based focal therapies such as fiber based laser ablation (FLA) which creates light induced thermal damage and photodynamic therapy (PDT) which combines photosensitizing drugs with specific wavelengths of light to treat cancer and other diseases. These therapeutic approaches are accompanied with advanced treatment planning and dosimetry algorithms. This is to aid

For all these novel technologies, pre-clinical and clinical evaluation studies are designed and executed by our group in single or multicenter studies to understand working mechanisms and to show safety, feasibility and clinical significance.

Focus

MEDPHOT: Image guided transperineal laser ablation of prostate cancer

The overall aim of this project is to create a personalized focal Trans-Perineal Laser Ablation (TPLA) platform allowing for highly accurate fiber-based ablation of prostatic lesions with increased treatment accuracy and reduced side-effects compared to conventional clinical treatments. Yet, the success of this approach depends on the spatial resolution of identifying target lesions which is currently around 5 mm. Therefore, we set the secondary, high-risk but potentially high gain objective to initiate the development of nano-particle based Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), which allows for localized delivery of therapeutic agents.

The project is subdivided into three Work Packages (WPs) focusing on the three key enabling technologies required for the development of the platform:

1) Development of a state-of-the-art laser ablation dosimetry platform for accurate TPLA treatment Planning (WP1, AUMC).

2) Development of an innovative MRI in-bore ready steerable treatment-delivery needle Platform (WP2, TU Delft)

3) Development of a novel targeted fluorescence-based Photo-Dynamic Therapy (PDT) up-conversion nanoparticle platform with the potential to increase focal ablation capabilities beyond the current modality (WP3, UvA).

Trial registrations:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03653117
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05163197
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04170478

BLOCT – optical coherence tomography to revolutionize bladder cancer imaging and diagnostics.

Although the histopathological result is currently regarded as the gold standard in bladder cancer diagnosis, there remains significant inter-observer variability, which may have a considerable impact on treatment decisions. Furthermore, the current time consuming diagnostic process places a substantial burden on bladder cancer patients and results in substantial healthcare costs.

We therefore developed a novel forward-looking OCT catheter which is interfaced with a 400 kHz A-line rate 1060 nm OCT system. The new OCT catheter incorporates a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) mirror, which enables the generation of an image with a larger FOV than the catheter tip. The aim of the present study is to assess the feasibility of the newly developed MEMS-based OCT catheter and system in-vivo during cystoscopies.

Trial registration:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06679920

CLEVER –Needle based confocal laser endo-microscopy in lung cancer

The goal of this research project is in twofold: Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE) and polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) applications in pulmonary diseases. The goals for CLE research are twofold:

1) Bronchoscopic and endosonographic real-time CLE detection of lung cancer (tumors and nodal metastases). The proposed CLE lung cancer criteria will be an AI based validated and automated recognition software for real-time CLE detection of tumor cells will be developed.

2) Targeted fluorescence labeling to optimize the sensitivity and specificity for tumor cell detection, identification and characterization, targeting specific antigens expressed at the surface of tumor cells will be explored. Microdoses of labelled immunotherapy antibodies (anti-PD1, anti-CTLA4) detected by CLE imaging will be used to acquire insights into the in vivo mechanism of action of these novel treatment modalities.

Trial registrations:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06079970
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02689050
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06505642