Robot-assisted confocal ndomicroscopy for intra-operative cancer diagnosis: Recent advances and clinical applications
Dr Khushi Vyas

[Abstract]

This talk will provide a short introduction to fluorescence microscopy and how such systems could be miniaturized using fibre optics for intra-operative surgical imaging applications. This is specifically explained for the problem of detecting tissue morphology and margin status during breast conserving surgery, where the re-operative rates due to positive margins are as high as 30%. Novel fluorescence endomicroscopy systems integrated with hand-held robotic devices have been developed at the Hamlyn Centre under a university project funded by BRC and EPSRC, a short summary of their instrumentations, clinical imaging protocols and applications will be presented. At the end of the talk, future directions for developing such robot-assisted endomicroscopy systems for in vivo intra-luminal imaging for example in the lung and urology will be presented.

[Biography]

Dr. Khushi Vyas (Post-doctorate Researcher in Translational Biophotonics at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Imperial College London, UK) obtained her first degree B.Tech from Nirma University, India in 2008 and M.Sc (Research) in Optical instrumentation from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), India in 2011. She completed M.Res in Medical robotics and image guided intervention at the Hamlyn Centre in Imperial College London in 2014 after working at IISc, India and Northwestern University, US. She obtained her PhD in endomicroscopy imaging from the Hamlyn Centre in Imperial College London in 2018 and is currently working at the Hamyln Centre as a Research Associate in Translational biophotonics field. She is a member of SPIE, OSA and EPS Young minds and was previously the assistant editor for Journal of Biomedical and health informatics (2014-2016).
Khushi Vyas’s research interests are in the development of miniaturized and high-resolution fluorescence microscopy platforms for rapid detection of cancer status during robotic surgery. Her work focuses on confocal endomicroscopy systems that can be designed, developed and integrated with novel robotic scanners and catheter endoscopes for intra-operative histology assessment of cancer in the breast, brain, urology and lung.