Time-resolved singlet-oxygen luminescence detection with an efficient and practical semiconductor single-photon detector

Gianluca Boso; Damei Ke; Boris Korzh; Jordan Bouilloux; Norbert Lange; Hugo Zbinden

doi:10.1364/BOE.7.000211

Time-resolved singlet-oxygen luminescence detection with an efficient and practical semiconductor single-photon detector

Biomed Opt Express. 2015 Dec 23;7(1):211-24. doi: 10.1364/BOE.7.000211. eCollection 2016 Jan 1.

Authors

Gianluca Boso¹, Damei Ke², Boris Korzh¹, Jordan Bouilloux², Norbert Lange², Hugo Zbinden¹

Affiliations

¹ Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, Chemin de Pinchat 22, Genève 4, CH-1211, Switzerland.
² School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, Genève 4, CH-1211, Switzerland.

Abstract

In clinical applications, such as PhotoDynamic Therapy, direct singlet-oxygen detection through its luminescence in the near-infrared range (1270 nm) has been a challenging task due to its low emission probability and the lack of suitable single-photon detectors. Here, we propose a practical setup based on a negative-feedback avalanche diode detector that is a viable alternative to the current state-of-the art for different clinical scenarios, especially where geometric collection efficiency is limited (e.g. fiber-based systems, confocal microscopy, scanning systems etc.). The proposed setup is characterized with Rose Bengal as a standard photosensitizer and it is used to measure the singlet-oxygen quantum yield of a new set of photosensitizers for site-selective photodynamic therapy.

Keywords: (030.5260) Photon counting; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (170.5180) Photodynamic therapy; (170.6280) Spectroscopy, fluorescence and luminescence; (170.6920) Time-resolved imaging; (230.5160) Photodetectors; (250.5230) Photoluminescence; (270.5570) Quantum detectors; (350.5130) Photochemistry.