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. 2021 Jan 6;20:5. doi: 10.1186/s12938-020-00845-5

Table 1.

Summary of each endoscopic diagnostic technology

Technique Excitation spectra Frame rate (Hz) Achievable
spatial resolution (μm)
Penetration depth (mm) Functional information Real morphologic image Whether the probe is in direct contact with the tissue surface while operating
HSI Visible & Near-IR  > 30  < 250 1
FLIM UV-Blue 20–120  < 50  < 0.1 Non-contact
PAE Visible & Near-IR 2–5 10  > 1 Contact
OCT Near-IR  < 50  < 3 2–4 Non-contact
CARS Near-IR 0.01–0.2  < 3  > 1 Non-contact

TPEF/

SHG

Near-IR 1–8  < 1 0.2–0.3 Contact or non-contact

3PEF/

THG

Near-IR 0.05–0.1 1 0.2–0.7 Contact or non-contact
DRS Visible 0.02–2  < 1 Contact
LSS Visible 0.02–0.05  < 1 Non-contact
a/LCI Near-IR 1–4  < 0.5 Contact
RS Near-IR 0.1–10  > 1 Contact

HSI: hyperspectral imaging; FLIM: fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy; PAE: photoacoustic endoscopy; OCT: optical coherent tomography; CARS: coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering; TPEF: two-photon excited fluorescence; 3PEF: three-photon excited fluorescence; SHG: second-harmonic generations; THG: third-harmonic generations; DRS: diffuse reflectance spectroscopy; LSS: light-scattering spectroscopy; a/LCI: angle-resolved low coherence interferometry; RS: Raman spectroscopy