Optical biopsy in human urologic tissue using optical coherence tomography.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a recently developed non-invasive technique for obtaining high resolution, cross-sectional images of human tissue. This work investigated the capability of OCT to differentiate the architectural morphology of urologic tissue with the long term aim of using OCT as an adjunct to endoscopic imaging and to improve the efficiency of interventional procedures such as transurethral prostatectomy (TURP). Urologic tissues were taken postmortem, dissected, and imaged using OCT. Microstructure was delineated in different urologic tissues, including the prostatic urethra, prostate, bladder, and ureter, with an axial resolution of 16 +/- 1 microm., higher than any clinically available endoscopic intraluminal imaging technology. The ability of OCT to provide non-contact high resolution imaging of urologic tissue architectural morphology (i.e. optical biopsy), without the need for excisional biopsy, suggests the potential of using OCT to obtain information on tissue microstructure that could only previously be obtained with conventional biopsy.