Preliminary results for hyperspectral videoendoscopy diagnostics on the phantoms of normal and abnormal tissues: Towards gastrointestinal diagnostics

Cancer is the second most cause of death in the world after cardiovascular related disease. This paper presents the calibration and test results obtained by mean of a hyperspectral reflectance and flexible video endoscope setup. Its application field is intended to be gastrointestinal cancer detection. We fabricated hard tissue phantoms which mimic different types of tissue in terms of its reflection properties for evaluation. The reflectance properties of the phantoms are set by varying the concentration of ink or titanium oxide. The goal is to achieve a similar reflectance properties as in actual respective tissues in vivo. A modified endoscope was used to discriminate the normal and tumor tissue phantoms with reflectance measurements. This hyperspectral endoscope setup consists of a light source, a camera and a camera controller that are compatible for use with conventional video endoscopes and video monitors. This setup allows the operator to switch between conventional white light imaging mode (WLI) and hyperspectral imaging mode (HSI). A significant imaging contrast between normal and tumor tissue phantoms has been provided.