Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the gold standard to detect metastatic invasion from primary breast cancer. This method can help patients avoid full axillary chain dissection, thereby decreasing the risk of morbidity. We propose an alternative to the traditional isotopic method, to detect and map the sentinel lymph nodes. Indeed, Patent Blue V is the most widely used dye in clinical routine for the visual detection of sentinel lymph nodes. A Recent study has shown the possibility of increasing the fluorescence quantum yield of Patent Blue V, when it is bound to human serum albumin. In this study we present a preclinical fluorescence imaging system to detect sentinel lymph nodes labeled with this fluorescent tracer. The setup is composed of a black and white CCD camera and two laser sources. One excitation source with a laser emitting at 635 nm and a second laser at 785 nm to illuminate the region of interest. The prototype is operated via a laptop. Preliminary experiments permitted to determine the device sensitivity in the μmol.L^-1 range as regards the detection of PBV fluorescence signals. We also present a preclinical evaluation performed on Lewis rats, during which the fluorescence imaging setup detected the accumulation and fixation of the fluorescent dye on different nodes through the skin.

Date Published: 22 March 2013
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8572, Advanced Biomedical and Clinical Diagnostic Systems XI, 85720K (22 March 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2004067

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8572:
Advanced Biomedical and Clinical Diagnostic Systems XI
Anita Mahadevan-Jansen; Tuan Vo-Dinh; Warren S. Grundfest M.D., Editor(s)