Integrated Multifunctional Laryngoscope for Medical Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract

Laryngeal lesions can cause great inconvenience to patients. Early diagnosis and corresponding treatments are critical to the survival of patients. However, the diagnosis and precise removal of tumors remain a challenge under the use of a white light laryngoscope. In this work, an integrated, multifunctional laryngoscope was designed and tested for the imaging evaluation and precision laser surgery for laryngeal tissue. This integrated diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic system included two imaging modes (i.e., optical coherence tomography and white light endoscopy) and a laser ablation treatment mode. The endoscope had a common-path design to ensure that the same position could be imaged and treated simultaneously. The ex vivo porcine larynx experimental results showed that the system imaging modes could simultaneously acquire both superficial and cross-sectional images of the sample tissue, and the ablation treatment could be performed under imaging guidance. This multifunctional laryngoscope has great potential for the early diagnosis of and accurate laser ablation surgery for laryngeal tumors.