Fluorescence Guided Surgery to Improved Clinical Outcomes

October 2, 2020 1:00-2:00 p.m.
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Dr. Summer Gibbs
Oregon Health & Science University

ABSTRACT: Surgery has a prominent role in clinical medicine with over 300 million surgeries performed annually worldwide. The ultimate goal of surgery is to repair damaged or remove diseased tissues, while minimizing comorbidities by preserving vital structures such as nerves and blood vessels. Even as surgical techniques and tools have substantially advanced, with high resolution preoperative imaging and minimally invasive surgical techniques becoming routine, surgeons still rely mainly on the basic tools of white light visualization and palpation for guidance during surgery, leaving incomplete cancer resection rates high and comorbidities like nerve damage as major problems. Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) has the potential to revolutionize surgery by enhancing visualization of specific tissues intraoperatively. Using optical imaging of targeted fluorescent probes, FGS offers sensitive, real-time, wide-field imaging using compact imaging systems that are easily integrated into the operating room. A number of FGS systems are clinically available, however only a handful of contrast agents have been FDA approved. Numerous preclinical studies of novel contrast agents have shown promise for improved surgical outcomes. However, moving novel agents from bench to bedside continues to challenge the field of FGS. Our group is working towards clinical translation of novel probes to highlight nerve tissue to aid in sparing nerves during a variety of procedures, which would significantly reduce morbidity to patients.

BIOGRAPHY: Summer Gibbs received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering under the direction of Dr. Brian W. Pogue at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in 2008. During her doctoral work she studied noninvasive fluorescence technologies and tissue light transport for brain cancer detection and cancer therapy monitoring.

Dr. Gibbs completed her postdoctoral training in the Center for Molecular Imaging at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Harvard Medical School under Dr. John V. Frangioni. Dr. Gibbs was promoted to Instructor in Medicine at the Harvard Medical School in July 2011. During her postdoctoral training she worked on applications of combinatorial solid phase synthesis for the development of unique fluorophore technology for image-guided surgery, development of a method for simultaneous tissue immunofluorescence staining with gold standard hematoxylin and eosin, high throughput screening technologies to improve cancer detection and treatment, and translation of instrumentation and contrast agents for image-guided surgery clinical trials.

Dr. Gibbs joined the faculty in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Oregon Health & Science University as Assistant Professor in June 2012. She also has cross appointments in the Knight Cancer Institute and OHSU Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine. She was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2017. Her laboratory focuses on novel fluorescent probe development for improved macroscopic and microscopic imaging applications with special focus on tissue- and disease-specific fluorophores for image-guided surgery, methods for multicolor microscopy and fluorescent technologies to predict therapeutic efficacy for personalized medicine.