| Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) has proven to be a minimally invasive alternative treatment option for various conditions including cancer. The treatment efficacy of PDT for deep-seated tumours is variable, compared to the treatment of tissue surfaces such as the skin and esophagus. This is partly due to inadequate monitoring of the three interrelated treatment parameters: treatment light, photosensitizer and tissue oxygenation. This thesis presents the development of a system for explicit dosimetry of the PDT treatment light and tissue oxygenation using multi-sensor fiber optic probes for spatially resolved parameter measurements. The system uses embedded fluorescent sensors for treatment light quantification. Tissue oxygenation measurement is accomplished using frequency domain techniques with embedded phosphorescent metalloporphyrin compounds as sensors. |
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