3D optical coherence tomography and digital pathology

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an established high resolution imaging modality with initial clinical success in ophthalmology, cardiology, gastroenterology and respirology. It is analogous to ultrasound, where the backscattered low-coherence light, rather than sound, is measured as a function of depth. Typical OCT imaging systems have a penetration depth range of 1-3 mm and an imaging resolution range of 1-10 um. The resolved OCT image represents a cross-sectional view of the microstructure in the biological tissue and can be accurately correlated with histology. We present methods of tissue sample preparation and comparative results of (a) intracranial aneurysms (b) prostate cancer, and (c) breast cancer, with 3-dimensional OCT image sets correlated with digital pathology. We will discuss potential future of intraoperative and intersititial use of OCT in these application.