Development of a Telehealth-Enabled Portable Optical Endomicroscopy System with Targeted Peptides: A Preclinical Feasibility Study for Cervical Cancer Detection

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: We developed a telehealth-enabled fiber-bundle endomicroscopy platform and evaluated its preclinical feasibility for targeted fluorescence imaging in cervical cancer models. METHODS: The platform integrates a portable fiber-bundle endomicroscopy (FBE) system, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled candidate peptides, and a secure web-based telehealth platform for remote consultation. The FBE probe achieved a field of view of 1,700 µm and a lateral resolution of 4 µm, enabling cellular-level fluorescence imaging in a compact, portable format. Four FITC-labeled peptides (SHS1*, SHS2*, FPP*, and CRL*) were evaluated in A549, SiHa, and CaSki cell lines. Ex vivo testing was performed on commercial cervical tissue-array samples. The telehealth platform was assessed for secure medical-image/video transmission and end-to-end latency in a simulated remote-consultation setting. RESULTS: < 0.001). The telehealth platform supported the secure transmission of medical images and video and demonstrated an end-to-end latency of <500 ms in a simulated remote consultation setting. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the technical and preclinical feasibility of integrating targeted fluorescence imaging, portable fiber-bundle endomicroscopy, and telehealth into a single platform. This study should therefore be interpreted as a preclinical feasibility study evaluating optical, molecular, and telehealth integration, rather than as a clinically validated cervical cancer screening test.