Jennifer Kehlet Barton

Director, BIO5 Institute

Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering

Professor, Agricultural-Biosystems Engineering

Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Professor, Medical Imaging

Professor, Optical Sciences

Professor, Cancer Biology - GIDP

Professor, BIO5 Institute

Member of the General Faculty

Member of the Graduate Faculty

Primary Department

BIO5 Institute

Department Affiliations

BIO5 Institute

Contact

(520) 626-0314

barton@arizona.edu

Work Summary

I develop new optical imaging devices that can detect cancer at the earliest stage. Optics has the resolution and sensitivity to find these small, curable lesions, and we design the endoscope that provide access to organs inside the body. .

Research Interest

Jennifer Barton, Ph.D. is known for her development of miniature endoscopes that combine multiple optical imaging techniques, particularly optical coherence tomography and fluorescence spectroscopy. She evaluates the suitability of these endoscopic techniques for detecting early cancer development in patients and pre-clinical models. She has a particular interest in the early detection of ovarian cancer, the most deadly gynecological malignancy. Additionally, her research into light-tissue interaction and dynamic optical properties of blood laid the groundwork for a novel therapeutic laser to treat disorders of the skin’s blood vessels. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal papers in these research areas. She is currently Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Optical Sciences, Agriculture-Biosystems Engineering, and Medical Imaging at the University of Arizona. She has served as department head of Biomedical Engineering, Associate Vice President for Research, and is currently Director of the BIO5 Institute, a collaborative research institute dedicated to solving complex biology-based problems affecting humanity. She is a fellow of SPIE – the International Optics Society, and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Keywords: bioimaging, biomedical optics, biomedical engineering, bioengineering, cancer, endoscopes

Publications

In vivo molecular imaging of colorectal cancer using quantum dots targeted to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and optical coherence tomography/laser-induced fluorescence dual-modality imaging

Carbary-Ganz, J. L., Welge, W. A., Barton, J. K., & Utzinger, U. (2015). In vivo molecular imaging of colorectal cancer using quantum dots targeted to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and optical coherence tomography/laser-induced fluorescence dual-modality imaging. Journal of biomedical optics, 20(9), 096015.

Optical coherence tomography/laser induced fluorescence (OCT/LIF) dual-modality imaging allows for minimally invasive, nondestructive endoscopic visualization of colorectal cancer in mice. This technology enables simultaneous longitudinal tracking of morphological (OCT) and biochemical (fluorescence) changes as colorectal cancer develops, compared to current methods of colorectal cancer screening in humans that rely on morphological changes alone. We have shown that QDot655 targeted to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (QD655-VEGFR2) can be applied to the colon of carcinogen-treated mice and provides significantly increased contrast between the diseased and undiseased tissue with high sensitivity and specificity ex vivo. QD655-VEGFR2 was used in a longitudinal in vivo study to investigate the ability to correlate fluorescence signal to tumor development. QD655-VEGFR2 was applied to the colon of azoxymethane (AOM-) or saline-treated control mice in vivo via lavage. OCT/LIF images of the distal colon were taken at five consecutive time points every three weeks after the final AOM injection. Difficulties in fully flushing unbound contrast agent from the colon led to variable background signal; however, a spatial correlation was found between tumors identified in OCT images, and high fluorescence intensity of the QD655 signal, demonstrating the ability to detect VEGFR2 expressing tumors in vivo.

Laparoscopic optical coherence tomography imaging of human ovarian cancer

Barton, J., Hariri, L. P., Bonnema, G. T., Schmidt, K., Winkler, A. M., Korde, V., Hatch, K. D., Davis, J. R., Brewer, M. A., & Barton, J. K. (2009). Laparoscopic optical coherence tomography imaging of human ovarian cancer. Gynecologic oncology, 114(2).

Ovarian cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the US largely due to late detection secondary to unreliable symptomology and screening tools without adequate resolution. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a recently emerging imaging modality with promise in ovarian cancer diagnostics, providing non-destructive subsurface imaging at imaging depths up to 2 mm with near-histological grade resolution (10-20 microm). In this study, we developed the first ever laparoscopic OCT (LOCT) device, evaluated the safety and feasibility of LOCT, and characterized the microstructural features of human ovaries in vivo.

Scatter sensitive microscopic techniques to identify contrasting mucosal structures in ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomograms of mouse colon

Tumlinson, A. R., Hariri, L. P., Drexler, W., & Barton, J. K. (2008). Scatter sensitive microscopic techniques to identify contrasting mucosal structures in ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomograms of mouse colon. ENDOSCOPIC MICROSCOPY III, 6851, U28-U39.

Using optical coherence tomography to evaluate skin sun damage and precancer

Barton, J., Korde, V. R., Bonnema, G. T., Xu, W., Krishnamurthy, C., Ranger-Moore, J., Saboda, K., Slayton, L. D., Salasche, S. J., Warneke, J. A., Alberts, D. S., & Barton, J. K. (2007). Using optical coherence tomography to evaluate skin sun damage and precancer. Lasers in surgery and medicine, 39(9).

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a depth resolved imaging modality that may aid in identifying sun damaged skin and the precancerous condition actinic keratosis (AK).

Optimization of multiplexed holographic gratings in PQ-PMMA for spectral-spatial imaging filters

Luo, Y., Gelsinger, P. J., Barton, J. K., Barbastathis, G., & Kostuk, R. K. (2008). Optimization of multiplexed holographic gratings in PQ-PMMA for spectral-spatial imaging filters. Optics letters, 33(6), 566-8.

Holographic gratings formed in thick phenanthrenquinone- (PQ-) doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) can be made to have narrowband spectral and spatial transmittance filtering properties. We present the design and performance of angle-multiplexed holographic filters formed in PQ-PMMA at 488 nm and reconstructed with a LED operated at approximately 630 nm. The dark delay time between exposure and the preillumination exposure of the polymer prior to exposure of the holographic area are varied to optimize the diffraction efficiency of multiplexed holographic filters. The resultant holographic filters can enhance the performance of four-dimensional spatial-spectral imaging systems. The optimized filters are used to simultaneously sample spatial and spectral information at five different depths separated by 50 microm within biological tissue samples.

Jennifer Kehlet Barton