Cuiru Sun

Optical coherence elastography: current status and future applications

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has several advantages over other imaging modalities, such as angiography and ultrasound, due to its inherently high in vivo resolution, which allows for the identification of morphological tissue structures. Optical coherence elastography (OCE) benefits from the superior spatial resolution of OCT and has promising applications, including cancer diagnosis and the detailed characterization of arterial wall biomechanics, both of which are based on the elastic properties of the tissue under investigation. We present OCE principles based on techniques associated with static and dynamic tissue excitation, and their corresponding elastogram image-reconstruction algorithms are reviewed. OCE techniques, including the development of intravascular- or catheter-based OCE, are in their early stages of development but show great promise for surgical oncology or intravascular cardiology applications.

Feasibility of optical coherence elastography measurements of shear wave propagation in homogeneous tissue equivalent phantoms

In this work, we explored the potential of measuring shear wave propagation using optical coherence elastography (OCE) based on a swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. Shear waves were generated using a 20 MHz piezoelectric transducer (circular element 8.5 mm diameter) transmitting sine-wave bursts of 400 μs, synchronized with the OCT swept source wavelength sweep. The acoustic radiation force (ARF) was applied to two gelatin phantoms (differing in gelatin concentration by weight, 8% vs. 14%). Differential OCT phase maps, measured with and without the ARF, demonstrate microscopic displacement generated by shear wave propagation in these phantoms of different stiffness. We present preliminary results of OCT derived shear wave propagation velocity and modulus, and compare these results to rheometer measurements. The results demonstrate the feasibility of shear wave OCE (SW-OCE) for high-resolution microscopic homogeneous tissue mechanical property characterization.

In vivo feasibility of endovascular Doppler optical coherence tomography

Feasibility of detecting intravascular flow using a catheter based endovascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) system is demonstrated in a porcine carotid model in vivo. The effects of A-line density, radial distance, signal-to-noise ratio, non-uniform rotational distortion (NURD), phase stability of the swept wavelength laser and interferometer system on Doppler shift detection limit were investigated in stationary and flow phantoms. Techniques for NURD induced phase shift artifact removal were developed by tracking the catheter sheath. Detection of high flow velocity (~51 cm/s) present in the porcine carotid artery was obtained by phase unwrapping techniques and compared to numerical simulation, taking into consideration flow profile distortion by the eccentrically positioned imaging catheter. Using diluted blood in saline mixture as clearing agent, simultaneous Doppler OCT imaging of intravascular flow and structural OCT imaging of the carotid artery wall was feasible. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo demonstration of Doppler imaging and absolute measurement of intravascular flow using a rotating fiber catheter in carotid artery.

Digital image correlation-based optical coherence elastography

Abstract. Optical coherence elastography (OCE) provides deformation or material properties, mapping of soft tissue. We aim to develop a robust speckle tracking OCE technique with improved resolution and accuracy. A digital image correlation (DIC)-based OCE technique was developed by combining an advanced DIC algorithm with optical coherence tomography (OCT). System calibration and measurement error evaluation demonstrated that this DIC-based OCE technique had a resolution of ∼0.6  μm displacement and <0.5% strain measurement in the axial scan direction. The measured displacement ranged from 0.6 to 150 μm, obtained via phantom imaging. The capability of the DIC-based OCE technique, for differentiation of stiffness, was evaluated by imaging a candle gel phantom with an irregularly shaped stiff inclusion. OCE imaging of a chicken breast sample differentiated the fat, membrane, and muscle layers. Strain elastograms of an aneurysm sample showed heterogeneity of the tissue and clear contrast between the adventitia and media. These promising results demonstrated the capability of the DIC-based OCE for the characterization of the various components of the tissue sample. Further improvement of the system will be conducted to make this OCE technique a practical tool for measuring and differentiating material properties of soft tissue.

Endovascular optical coherence tomography intensity kurtosis: visualization of vasa vasorum in porcine carotid artery

Application of speckle variance optical coherence tomography (OCT) to endovascular imaging faces difficulty of extensive motion artifacts inherently associated with arterial pulsations in addition to other physiological movements. In this study, we employed a technique involving a fourth order statistical method, kurtosis, operating on the endovascular OCT intensity images to visualize the vasa vasorum of carotid artery in vivo and identify its flow dynamic in a porcine model. The intensity kurtosis technique can distinguish vasa vasorum from the surrounding tissues in the presence of extensive time varying noises and dynamic motions of the arterial wall. Imaging of vasa vasorum and its proliferation, may compliment the growing knowledge of structural endovascular OCT in assessment and treatment of atherosclerosis in coronary and carotid arteries.

Intraoperative handheld optical coherence tomography forward-viewing probe: physical performance and preliminary animal imaging

A prototype intraoperative hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging probe was developed to provide micron resolution cross-sectional images of subsurface tissue during open surgery. This new ergonomic probe was designed based on electrostatically driven optical fibers, and packaged into a catheter probe in the form factor of clinically accepted Bayonet shaped neurosurgical probes. Optical properties of the probe were measured to have a ~20 μm spot size, 5 mm working distance and 4 mm field of view. Feasibility of this probe for structural and Doppler shift imaging was tested on porcine femoral blood vessel imaging.

High speed, wide velocity dynamic range Doppler optical coherence tomography (Part IV): split spectrum processing in rotary catheter probes

We report a technique for blood flow detection using split spectrum Doppler optical coherence tomography (ssDOCT) that shows improved sensitivity over existing Doppler OCT methods. In ssDOCT, the Doppler signal is averaged over multiple sub-bands of the interferogram, increasing the SNR of the Doppler signal. We explore the parameterization of this technique in terms of number of sub-band windows, width and overlap of the windows, and their effect on the Doppler signal to noise in a flow phantom. Compared to conventional DOCT, ssDOCT processing has increased flow sensitivity. We demonstrate the effectiveness of ssDOCT in-vivo for intravascular flow detection within a porcine carotid artery and for microvascular vessel detection in human pulmonary imaging, using rotary catheter probes. To our knowledge, this is the first report of visualizing in-vivo Doppler flow patterns adjacent to stent struts in the carotid artery.

Imaging the electro-kinetic response of biological tissues with optical coherence tomography.

We demonstrate the feasibility of using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect and image an electro-kinetic response: electric-field induced optical changes (EIOC) in soft biological tissues. A low-frequency electric field was applied to ex vivo samples of porcine heart tissues, while OCT signals were acquired continuously. Experimental results show that the amplitude of the OCT signal change is proportional to the amplitude and inversely proportional to the frequency of the applied electric field. We show that the nonconductive component of the sample was eliminated in the normalized EIOC image. To the best our knowledge, this is the first time a two-dimensional image related to the electro-kinetic response of soft tissues is obtained with depth resolution. Since electro-kinetic properties can change during cancerogenesis, EIOC imaging can potentially be used for cancer detection.

Measuring the optical characteristics of medulloblastoma with optical coherence tomography

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Standard treatment consists of surgical resection, followed by radiation and high-dose chemotherapy. Despite these efforts, recurrence is common, leading to reduced patient survival. Even with successful treatment, there are often severe long-term neurologic impacts on the developing nervous system. We present two quantitative techniques that use a high-resolution optical imaging modality: optical coherence tomography (OCT) to measure refractive index, and the optical attenuation coefficient. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate OCT analysis of medulloblastoma. Refractive index and optical attenuation coefficient were able to differentiate between normal brain tissue and medulloblastoma in mouse models. More specifically, optical attenuation coefficient imaging of normal cerebellum displayed layers of grey matter and white matter, which were indistinguishable in the structural OCT image. The morphology of the tumor was distinct in the optical attenuation coefficient imaging. These inherent properties may be useful during neurosurgical intervention to better delineate tumor boundaries and minimize resection of normal tissue.

Wavelet domain compounding for speckle reduction in optical coherence tomography.

Abstract. Visibility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images can be severely degraded by speckle noise. A computationally efficient despeckling approach that strongly reduces the speckle noise is reported. It is based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT), but eliminates the conventional process of threshold estimation. By decomposing an image into different levels, a set of sub-band images are generated, where speckle noise is additive. These sub-band images can be compounded to suppress the additive speckle noise, as DWT coefficients resulting from speckle noise tend to be approximately decorrelated. The final despeckled image is reconstructed by taking the inverse wavelet transform of the new compounded sub-band images. The performance of speckle reduction and edge preservation is controlled by a single parameter: the level of wavelet decomposition. The proposed technique is applied to intravascular OCT imaging of porcine carotid arterial wall and ophthalmic OCT images. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for speckle noise reduction and simultaneous edge preservation. The presented method is fast and easy to implement and to improve the quality of OCT images.