Endoscopically guided spectral-domain OCT with double-balloon catheters

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Gastroenterology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) is crucial for real-time surveillance of Barrett's esophagus (BE).
• Existing balloon-based OCT catheters may alter esophageal tissue appearance due to direct pressure, potentially impacting dysplasia detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of balloon-tissue contact pressure on OCT imaging of the esophagus.
• To develop and validate a double-balloon catheter system for OCT imaging with and without direct tissue contact.

Main Methods:

• A spectral-domain OCT system was designed and integrated with a novel double-balloon catheter.
• High-quality, volumetric OCT images of swine esophagus were acquired in vivo, both with and without balloon inflation (tissue contact).

Main Results:

• The developed system successfully acquired high-resolution, volumetric OCT images of the swine esophagus.
• The double-balloon catheter design enables comparative imaging, differentiating between states with and without direct balloon-tissue interaction.

Conclusions:

• The double-balloon catheter is a viable tool for OCT surveillance in Barrett's esophagus.
• This approach minimizes the confounding effects of balloon pressure, improving the reliability of dysplasia detection in BE surveillance.