A topical fluorescent analogue for virtual hematoxylin and eosin histology in point-of-care ex vivo microscopy

Histological assessment of freshly removed tissue specimens requires accurate and fast analysis in clinical procedures such as diagnostic biopsy and surgical tumor resection. Current histological assessment methods are either time-consuming or damage the tissue beyond the ability to re-analyze post-procedure. We demonstrate a novel dual-stain fluorescent analogue to brightfield Hematoxylin and Eosin for in-procedure histopathology that is both time-efficient and preserves the analyzed tissue for later analysis. H&E-like images are created from the combination of DRAQ5 and Eosin applied to human prostate tissue and animal muscle tissue under confocal microscopy. D&E images are pseduocolored to match H&E coloring, showing near-identical features to brightfield H&E of the same tissue. The histological accuracy, short staining time, and tissue preservation aspects of this dual-stain technique demonstrates its potential to be adopted for use in point-of-care pathology.