Blescope A Bluetooth Low Energy Ble Microscope For Wireless Multicontrast Functional Imaging

• doi: 10.1109/TBME.2024.3467221
• title: BLEscope: A Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Microscope for Wireless Multicontrast Functional Imaging
• publisher: IEEE
• isbn:
• issn: 1558-2531
• rank: 1700
• access_type: LOCKED
• content_type: Journals
• abstract: Recent advances in low-power wireless-capable system-on-chips (SoCs) have accelerated diverse Internet of Things (IoT) applications, encompassing wearables, asset monitoring, and more. Concurrently, the field of neuroimaging has experienced escalating demand for lightweight, untethered, low-power systems capable of imaging in small animals. This article explores the feasibility of using a low-power asset monitoring system as the basis of a new architecture for fluorescence and hemodynamic contrast-based wireless functional imaging. The core system architecture hinges on the fusion of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.2 SoC and a low-power 560 × 560, 8-bit monochrome CMOS image sensor module. Successful integration of a multicontrast optical front-end consisting of a fluorescence channel (FL) and an intrinsic optical signal (IOS) channel resulted in the creation of a wireless microscope called ‘BLEscope’. Next, we developed a wireless (i.e., BLE) protocol to remotely operate the BLEscope via a laptop and acquire in vivo images at 1 frame per second (fps). We then conducted a comprehensive characterization of the BLEscope to assess its optical capabilities and power consumption. We report a new benchmark for continuous wireless imaging of ∼1.5 hours with a 100 mAh battery. Via the FL channel of the BLEscope, we successfully tracked the kinetics of an intravenously injected fluorescent tracer and acquired images of fluorescent brain tumor cells in vivo. Via the IOS channel, we characterized the differential response of normal and tumor-associated blood vessels to a carbogen gas inhalation challenge. When miniaturized, the BLEscope will result in a new class of low-power, implantable or wireless microscopes that could transform preclinical and clinical neuroimaging applications.
• article_number: 10691917
• pdf_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10691917
• html_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10691917/
• abstract_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10691917/
• publication_title: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
• conference_location:
• conference_dates:
• publication_number: 10
• is_number: 10848360
• publication_year: 2025
• publication_date: Feb. 2025
• start_page: 675
• end_page: 688
• citing_paper_count: 0
• citing_patent_count: 0
• download_count: 273
• insert_date: 20240924
• index_terms:
  • ieee_terms:
    • Imaging
    • Wireless communication
    • Wireless sensor networks
    • Microscopy
    • Optical sensors
    • Optical imaging
    • Image sensors
  • author_terms:
    • Bluetooth low energy (BLE)
    • low-power
    • microscopy
    • multicontrast
    • neuroimaging
    • smartphone
    • wireless
  • dynamic_index_terms:
    • Functional Imaging
    • Blood Flow
    • Hemodynamic
    • Blood Vessels
    • Power Consumption
    • Internet Of Things
    • System Architecture
    • Image Sensor
    • Camera Sensor
    • Fluorescence Channel
    • Fluorescent Tracer
    • Continuous Imaging
    • Remote Operation
    • Remote Surgery
    • Telesurgery
    • Brain Tumor Cells
    • Image Acquisition
    • Vertical Line
    • Image Stacks
    • Quantum Efficiency
    • Current Consumption
    • Wireless Transmission
    • Radio Transmitters
    • Imaging Platform
    • Light-emitting Diode Illumination
    • Single Capture
    • Background Regions Of Interest
    • Green Light-emitting Diodes
    • Cranial Window
    • Video Transmission
    • Tumor Regions Of Interest
    • Translation Transformation
• authors:
  • Author Name: Subhrajit Das
    Affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37088335921
    ID: 37088335921
    Order: 1
    Author Affiliations:
    • Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA
  • Author Name: Janaka Senarathna
    Affiliation: Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/38358772100
    ID: 38358772100
    Order: 2
    Author Affiliations:
    • Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
  • Author Name: Yunke Ren
    Affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/877718967171476
    ID: 877718967171476
    Order: 3
    Author Affiliations:
    • Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
  • Author Name: Vu Dinh
    Affiliation: Research Technologist in the Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37090077279
    ID: 37090077279
    Order: 4
    Author Affiliations:
    • Research Technologist in the Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
  • Author Name: Mingyao Ying
    Affiliation: Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, USA
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/730788343516556
    ID: 730788343516556
    Order: 5
    Author Affiliations:
    • Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, USA
  • Author Name: Ralph Etienne-Cummings
    Affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/38271387300
    ID: 38271387300
    Order: 6
    Author Affiliations:
    • Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA
  • Author Name: Arvind P. Pathak
    Affiliation: Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Depts. of Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37089839797
    ID: 37089839797
    Order: 7
    Author Affiliations:
    • Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Depts. of Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Sensor

• sensor_type: CMOS
• resolution: 560x560
• dynamic_range: not specified
• pixel_size: not specified
• dark_current: not specified

Optical Data

• focal_length: f=4.6 mm
• aperture: not specified
• field_of_view: ~2 mm2
• distortion: not specified

Performance Metrics

• frame_rate: 1 fps
• power_consumption: 3.2 mW at 1 fps, 122.7 mW at 360 fps

Applications & Benefits

• cell_imaging: Used for imaging in functional neuroimaging and capturing real-time images of cellular activity.
• benefits: Low power consumption allows for extended imaging sessions; high quantum efficiency enhances sensitivity.

Supporting Organizations

• supported_by: NIH/NCI under Grant 2R01CA196701-06A1 and Grant 5R01CA237597-04.

Manuscript Details

• publication_date: Feb. 2025

Relevancy Score

• score: 9
• missing_fields:
  • fill factor
  • noise sources
  • analog-to-digital conversion techniques
  • microlenses
  • on-chip colour filters
  • global or rolling shutters
  • backside illumination

Processed JSON Filename

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