Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Cancer Res. 2010 Dec 15;70(24):10071-9. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-2968. Epub 2010 Nov 5.
Three-dimensional (3D) tissue imaging methods are expected to improve surgical management of cancer. In this study, we examined the feasibility of two 3D imaging technologies, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence microscopy (OCM), to view human breast specimens based on intrinsic optical contrast. Specifically, we imaged 44 ex vivo breast specimens including 34 benign and 10 malignant lesions with an integrated OCT and OCM system developed in our laboratory. The system enabled 4-μm axial resolution (OCT and OCM) with 14-μm (OCT) and 2-μm (OCM) transverse resolutions, respectively. OCT and OCM images were compared with corresponding histologic sections to identify characteristic features from benign and malignant breast lesions at multiple resolution scales. OCT and OCM provide complimentary information about tissue microstructure, thus showing distinctive patterns for adipose tissue, fibrous stroma, breast lobules and ducts, cysts and microcysts, as well as in situ and invasive carcinomas. The 3D imaging capability of OCT and OCM provided complementary information to individual 2D images, thereby allowing tracking features from different levels to identify low-contrast structures that were difficult to appreciate from single images alone. Our results lay the foundation for future in vivo optical evaluation of breast tissues, using OCT and OCM, which has the potential to guide core needle biopsies, assess surgical margins, and evaluate nodal involvement in breast cancer.
三维(3D)组织成像方法有望改善癌症的手术治疗。在这项研究中,我们研究了两种 3D 成像技术,即光学相干断层扫描(OCT)和光学相干显微镜(OCM),基于固有光学对比度观察人体乳腺标本的可行性。具体来说,我们使用我们实验室开发的集成 OCT 和 OCM 系统对 44 个离体乳腺标本进行成像,其中包括 34 个良性病变和 10 个恶性病变。该系统能够实现 4μm 的轴向分辨率(OCT 和 OCM),横向分辨率分别为 14μm(OCT)和 2μm(OCM)。OCT 和 OCM 图像与相应的组织学切片进行比较,以在多个分辨率尺度上识别良性和恶性乳腺病变的特征。OCT 和 OCM 提供关于组织微观结构的补充信息,因此显示出脂肪组织、纤维基质、乳腺小叶和导管、囊肿和微囊肿以及原位和浸润性癌的独特模式。OCT 和 OCM 的 3D 成像能力为单个 2D 图像提供了补充信息,从而允许从不同层面跟踪特征,以识别仅从单个图像难以理解的低对比度结构。我们的研究结果为将来使用 OCT 和 OCM 对乳腺组织进行体内光学评估奠定了基础,这有可能指导核心针活检、评估手术边缘和评估乳腺癌的淋巴结受累情况。