A feasibility study of optical coherence tomography for guiding deep brain probes

Deep brain simulation (DBS) is effective for the treatment of various diseases including Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. However, anatomical targeting combined with microelectrode mapping of the region requires significant surgical time. Also, the fine-tipped microelectrode imposes a risk of hemorrhage in the event that the trajectory intersects subcortical vessels. To reduce the operation time and the risk of hemorrhage, we propose to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) to guide the insertion of the DBS probe. We conducted in vitro experiments in the rat brain to study the feasibility of this application. The result shows that OCT is able to differentiate structures in the rat brain. White matter tends to have higher peak reflectivity and steeper attenuation rate compared to gray matter. This structural information may help guide DBS probe advance and electrical measurements.