Objectives
ESOTRAC aims to shift the paradigm in esophageal cancer in-vivo diagnosis and staging, by replacing two-dimensional qualitative and user dependent WLE observations of the esophageal wall with objective, quantitative, three-dimensional measurements of the entire esophagus wall, delivering morphological and pathophysiological cancer and pre-cancer features not available to currently used white light endoscopy. The proposal aims to achieve earlier EC diagnosis, thus saving lives and reducing healthcare costs (€3-5 Billion annual savings), by researching a revolutionary photonic endoscopy based on a hybrid multi-spectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scope.
To this end, ESOTRAC will:
Research and deliver innovative core technologies
Develop a novel hybrid endoscope, combining Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
Deliver software, offering a user/clinician-friendly representation and quantification scheme of three-dimensional (3D) esophageal wall data for seamless integration into endoscopy suites
Validate the performance of the novel hybrid endoscope in animal models
Disseminate and exploit the progress toward unprecedented esophageal cancer diagnosis and tumor staging