Global health open-source goggles for fluorescence-guided surgery

Abstract

Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS), coupled with novel near infrared (NIR) fluorescent contrast agents, has significant potential to improve health but in current practice is less suitable for low resource settings. Although there are efforts to simplify FGS systems, technical, economic, and logistic challenges have hampered its global adoption. To overcome these impediments, we developed a low-cost, open-source, battery-powered and fully wearable FGS system called the fluorescence imaging augmented reality Raspberry Pi-based goggle system (FAR-Pi). Compared to current technologies that are expensive, bulky, and wall-powered, FAR-Pi has higher spatial resolution, depth of focus and fluorescence sensitivity. The FAR-Pi system has broad appeal by detecting the diverse fluorescence of NIR contrast agents undergoing clinical trials, as demonstrated by the successful identification of tumors in vivo with LS301, a tumor-targeting NIR contrast agent. As an open-source, inexpensive, and modifiable system, FAR-Pi promises to broaden access to FGS, thereby improving health worldwide.