Data from: A bio-inspired imager improves sensitivity for near-infrared fluorescence image-guided surgery

Image-guided surgery can enhance cancer treatment by decreasing, and ideally eliminating, positive tumor margins and iatrogenic damage to healthy tissue. Current state-of-the-art near-infrared fluorescence imaging systems are bulky, costly, lack sensitivity under surgical illumination, and lack co-registration accuracy between multimodal images. As a result, an overwhelming majority of physicians still rely on their unaided eyes and palpation as the primary sensing modalities to distinguish cancerous from healthy tissue. Here we introduce an innovative design comprising an artificial multispectral sensor inspired by the Morpho butterfly’s compound eye which can significantly improve image-guided surgery. By monolithically integrating spectral tapetal filters with photodetectors, we have realized a single-chip multispectral imager with 1000-fold higher sensitivity and 7-fold better spatial co-registration accuracy compared to clinical imaging systems in current use. Preclinical and clinical data demonstrate seamless integration of this technology in the surgical work flow while providing surgeons with real-time information on the location of cancerous tissue and sentinel lymph nodes, respectively. Due to its low manufacturing cost, our bio-inspired sensor will provide resource-limited hospitals with much-needed technology to enable more accurate value-based health care.