Hyperspectral imaging and fiber optic sensors-based thermometry for monitoring photothermal therapy of cancer

This work presents the first integration of hyperspectral imaging and fiber optic sensor-based thermometry to monitor the thermal effects in breast cancer tissue undergoing gold nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy. The study was conducted in vivo on mouse models of triple-negative breast cancer. Real-time thermal monitoring was achieved using 10 fiber Bragg grating sensors in high-resistant polyimide optical fibers and a hyperspectral camera (400-1000 nm wavelength range). The hyperspectral camera enabled tracking the thermal damage and temperature-dependent changes in tissue by assessing the variations of the tissue optical biomarkers. The fiber optic temperature sensors provided real-time internal tumor temperature data, allowing for the creation of high-resolution thermal maps with 1 mm spatial resolution and 0.1 °C accuracy. The system's effectiveness was validated by monitoring tumor volume over time post-treatment. Results indicate that combining hyperspectral imaging with quasi-distributed sensors enhances in-situ temperature and thermal effect monitoring, potentially improving photothermal therapy outcomes.