Indocyanine green (ICG) is a fluorescent dye used as an indicator in medicine and surgery. The maximum absorption wavelength of ICG is at 785 nm, while the maximum emission is around 820 nm. ICG is nontoxic and is rapidly excreted into the bile. Near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging or spectroscopy offer new settings for seeing the blood vessels, and also in oncological applications for finding sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) to investigate if the cancer has spread from the tumor to the lymphatic system. Given the aforementioned applications, the aim of this thesis was to develop a hardware control and a user interface in LabVIEW, and to evaluate the software, as well as the instrumentation using phantom measurements.The system consisted of a spectrometer, a laser (785 ± 5 nm) for ICG excitation, optical filters, and a fiber optical probe containing five fibers for light excitation, and one for light collection. The basic LabVIEW program designed for the spectrometer was used, and additional features were added such as the recording functions, online measurements, opening of the recorded files, saving comments, and a loop was created for the laser control. Optical phantoms were prepared to model tissue for measurements using 20 % intralipid that gave μs = 298 mm−¹ at the excitation wavelength. Agar 1% w/v and ICG were added to the phantoms using different fluorophore concentrations of 2 μg/mL, 10 μg/mL, 20 μg/mL, 25 μg/mL, and 40 μg/mL. The objective was to perform controlled measurements of steady state ICG fluorescence, the dynamics of photobleaching at different concentrations, and to find the optimal ICG concentration for obtaining the maximum fluorescence intensity. The light to excite ICG fluorescence emission was provided by using a laser output power of 10.4 mW and 200 ms of integration time in the spectrometer for optimal measurements.Measurements using the different gel phantoms showed maximum fluorescence ICG concentration to be between 16 μg/mL and 20 μg/mL. Moreover, photobleaching measurements showed to be ICG concentration-dependent, where those concentrations higher than the optimal one incrementally photobleached with time after being exposed to light. Higher concentrations presented an incremental photobleaching where they first reached a maximum peak and then the intensity decayed with time. Additionally, laser reflection at 782 nm showed that the reflection increased with time ranging from 130% – 460% as the ICG photobleached to 50% of its initial value. Normalization of ICG by the laser reflection signal was investigated to compensate for the intensity variations due to the measurement parameters including the distance from the light source to the target, and the angle of inclination of the probe. The lowest ICG concentration detectable by the system was 0.05 μg/mL.In conclusion, a LabVIEW hardware control and user interface was developed for controlling the spectrometer and the laser. Several measurements were made using the different phantoms, where the optimal concentration of ICG was estimated. It was shown that ICG fluorescence intensity and photobleaching behavior were dependent on the concentration. The results gave suggestions for future experimental design. / NIRF

Purpose: One relevant aspect for anastomotic leakage in colorectal surgery is blood perfusion of both ends of the anastomosis. The clinical evaluation of this issue is limited, but new methods like fluorescence angiography with indocyanine green or non-invasive and contactless hyperspectral imaging have evolved as objective parameters for perfusion evaluation. Methods: In this prospective, non-randomized, open-label and two-arm study, fluorescence angiography and hyperspectral imaging were compared in 32 consecutive patients with each other and with the clinical assessment by the surgeon. After preparation of the bowel and determination of the surgical resection line, the tissue was evaluated with hyperspectral imaging for 5 minutes before and after cutting the marginal artery and assessed by 6 hyperspectral pictures followed by fluorescence angiography with indocyanine green. Results: In 30 of 32 patients the image data could be evaluated and compared. Both methods provided a comparable borderline between well perfused and poorly perfused tissue (p = 0.704). In 15 cases, the surgical resection line was shifted to the central position due to the imaging. The border zone was sharper in fluorescence angiography and was best assessed 31sec after injection. With hyperspectral imaging, the border zone was visualized wider and with more differences between proximal and distal border. Conclusion: Hyperspectral imaging and fluorencence angiography provide similar results in determining the perfusion border. Both methods allow a good and safe visualization of the blood perfusion at the central resection margin to create a well-perfused anastomosis.:Abbildungsverzeichnis II Abkürzungsverzeichnis III 1. Einleitung 1 1.1 Anastomoseninsuffizienz 1 1.2 Hyperspektralbildgebung 2 Methodik und technische Daten 2 1.3 Fluoreszenzangiographie mit Indocyaningrün 4 Methodik und technische Daten 4 Anwendungsgebiet 6 1.4 Chirurgische Technik 6 1.5 Studiendesign und intraoperative Bildgebung 7 1.6 Bisherige Ergebnisse 10 2. Publikation 12 3. Zusammenfassung der Arbeit 21 4. Literaturverzeichnis IV 5. Darstellung des eigenen Beitrags VIII 6. Erklärung über die eigenständige Abfassung der Arbeit IX 7. Danksagung X

Background: Novel intraoperative imaging techniques, namely, hyperspectral (HSI) and fluorescence imaging (FI), are promising with respect to reducing severe postoperative complications, thus increasing patient safety. Both tools have already been used to evaluate perfusion of the gastric conduit after esophagectomy and before anastomosis. To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating both modalities simultaneously during esophagectomy. Methods: In our pilot study, 13 patients, who underwent Ivor Lewis esophagectomy and gastric conduit reconstruction, were analyzed prospectively. HSI and FI were recorded before establishing the anastomosis in order to determine its optimum position. Results: No anastomotic leak occurred during this pilot study. In five patients, the imaging methods resulted in a more peripheral adaptation of the anastomosis. There were no significant differences between the two imaging tools, and no adverse events due to the imaging methods or indocyanine green (ICG) injection occurred. Conclusions: Simultaneous intraoperative application of both modalities was feasible and not time consuming. They are complementary with regard to the ideal anastomotic position and may contribute to better surgical outcomes. The impact of their simultaneous application will be proven in consecutive prospective trials with a large patient cohort.

Innovations and new advancements in intraoperative real-time imaging have gained significant importance in the field of gastric cancer surgery in the recent past. Currently, the most promising procedures include indocyanine green fluorescence imaging (ICG-FI) and hyperspectral imaging or multispectral imaging (HSI, MSI). ICG-FI is utilized in a broad range of clinical applications, e.g., assessment of perfusion or lymphatic drainage, and additional implementations are currently investigated. HSI is still in the experimental phase and its value and clinical relevance require further evaluation, but initial studies have shown a successful application in perfusion assessment, and prospects concerning non-invasive tissue and tumor classification are promising. The application of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies might enable an automatic evaluation of the acquired image data in the future. Both methods facilitate the accurate visualization of tissue characteristics that are initially indistinguishable for the human eye. By aiding surgeons in optimizing the surgical procedure, image-guided surgery can contribute to the oncologic safety and reduction of complications in gastric cancer surgery and recent advances hold promise for the application of HSI in intraoperative tissue diagnostics.

Cancer is a leading cause of death that affects millions of people across the globe each year. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a relatively new treatment approach for cancer in which anticancer drugs are activated by light at an appropriate wavelength to generate highly cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) and achieve tumor destruction. Compared with conventional chemo- and radiotherapy, PDT can be performed with minimal invasiveness, local targeting and reduced side effects. However, most of the currently available PDT drugs mainly absorb in the visible part of the spectrum, where light penetration depth into human tissues is very limited. Therefore, increasing the treatment depth of PDT has been considered to be an important approach to improve the effectiveness of PDT for treating larger and thicker tumor masses. In this thesis, we present our investigation into the potential of two-photon activated PDT (2-γ PDT), combination therapy of PDT and chemotherapy, and bioluminescence-activated PDT as a means to increase the treatment depth of this modality. In 2-γ PDT, the photosensitizing agents are activated through simultaneous absorption of two photons. This approach allows the use of near-infrared (NIR) light that can penetrate deeper into tissues and thus, has the potential of treating deep-seated tumors and reducing side effects, while the non-linear nature of two-photon excitation (TPE) may improve tumor targeting. We have evaluated the PDT efficacy of a second-generation photosensitizer derived from chlorophyll a, pyropheophorbide a methyl ester (MPPa), through both one- and two-photon activation. We observed that MPPa had high one-photon (1-γ PDT efficacy against both cisplatin-sensitive human cervical (HeLa) and cisplatin-resistant human lung (A549) and ovarian (NIH:OVCAR-3) cancer cells when activated by femtosecond (fs) laser pulses at 674 nm. At a low light dose of 0.06 J cm-2, the MPPa concentration required to produce a 50% cell killing effect (IC50) was determined to be 5.3 ± 0.3, 3.4 ± 0.3 and 3.6 ± 0.4 μM in HeLa, A549 and NIH:OVCAR-3 cells, respectively. More significantly, we also found that MPPa could be effectively activated at the optimal tissue-penetrating wavelength of 800 nm through TPE. At a light dose of 886 J cm-2, where no measurable photodamage was observed in the absence of MPPa, the IC50 values were measured to be 4.1 ± 0.3, 9.6 ± 1.0 and 1.6 ± 0.3 μM in HeLa, A549 and NIH:OVCAR-3 cells, respectively. We obtained corresponding LD50 (the light dose required to produce a 50% killing effect) values of 576 ± 13, 478 ± 18 and 360 ± 16 J cm-2 for 10 μM MPPa, which were approximately 3-5 times lower than the published 2-γ LD50 of Visudyne® and 20-30 times lower than that of Photofrin®. These results indicate that MPPa may serve as a photosensitizer for both 1- and 2-γ activated PDT treatment of difficult-to-treat tumors by conventional therapies. Indocyanine green (ICG), a dye having an absorption maximum near 800 nm, has been considered to be a potential NIR PDT agent. However, the PDT efficacy of ICG has been found to be very limited probably due to the low yield of cytotoxic ROS. In the present work, we have evaluated the combination effects of ICG-mediated PDT with conventional chemotherapy mediated by two types of chemotherapeutic drugs, namely the type II topoisomerase (TOPII) poisons etoposide (VP-16)/teniposide (VM-26) and the platinum-based drugs cisplatin (CDDP)/oxaliplatin (OXP). Synergistic enhancement of cytotoxicity and increased yields of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) were observed in HeLa, A549 and NIH:OVCAR-3 cancer cells treated with the combination of ICG-PDT and VP-16. The presence of VP-16 during the laser irradiation process was found to be critical for producing a synergistic effect. An electron-transfer-based mechanism, in which ICG could increase the yield of highly cytotoxic VP-16 metabolites, was proposed for the observed synergistic effects, although direct spectroscopic detection of the reaction products was found to be very challenging. Moreover, we observed a much lower degree of synergy in the human normal fibroblast GM05757 cells than that in the three cancer cell lines investigated. Synergistic effects were also observed in A549 cells treated with the combination of ICG-PDT and VM-26 (i.e. an analog of VP-16). Furthermore, the combination of low-dose CDDP/OXP and ICG-PDT was demonstrated to produce an additive or synergistic effect in selected cancer cell lines. These preliminary results suggest that the combination of ICG-PDT with VP-16/VM-26 or CDDP/OXP chemotherapy may offer the advantages of enhancing the therapeutic effectiveness of ICG-PDT and lowering the side effects associated with the chemotherapeutic drugs. Bioluminescence, the generation of light in living organisms through chemical reactions, has been explored as an internal light source for PDT in recent years. This approach, in principle, does not suffer from the limited tissue penetration depth of light. In the present project, we have evaluated the effectiveness of luminol bioluminescence in activating the porphyrin photosensitizers meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphine dihydrochloride (TPPS4) and Fe(III) meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphine chloride (FeTPPS). The combination treatment induced significant killing of HeLa cells, while additive effects were observed in two normal human fibroblast cell lines (GM05757 and MRC-5). Our observations indicate that bioluminescence of luminol may generate sufficient light for intracellular activation of PDT sensitizers. Furthermore, the combination treatment may have intrinsic selectivity towards cancerous tissues. In summary, we have demonstrated effective killing of cancer cells by MPPa-mediated 1- and 2-γ PDT, combination of ICG-PDT and VP-16/VM-26 or CDDP/OXP chemotherapy, and bioluminescence of luminol activated PDT mediated by TPPS4/FeTPPS. These positive preliminary results indicate that all these three approaches have the potential of increasing the treatment depth of PDT and facilitating the development of more effective PDT treatment strategies.