Feasibility of Perioperative Micro-Computed Tomography of Human Lung Cancer Specimens: A Pilot Study

Lesion localization during intraoperative frozen section of lung resection specimens can be challenging. Imaging could aid lesion localization while enabling 3-dimensional specimen analysis.

To assess the feasibility of integrating micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) into the perioperative evaluation of fresh surgical lung resection specimens.

Fresh lung specimens from patients with a presumptive diagnosis of lung cancer were imaged with micro-CT prior to routine histopathologic and molecular analysis. Micro-CT images were assessed to determine image quality, lesion size, and distance from lesion to the nearest surgical margin. Micro-CT measurements were compared to pathologic measurements using Bland-Altman analysis.

A total of 22 specimens from 21 patients were analyzed (mean image acquisition time, 13 ± 6 minutes). Histologic quality of imaged specimens was indistinguishable from a control group of nonimaged lung specimens. Artifacts, most commonly from specimen deflation (n = 8), obscured fine detail on micro-CT images of 10 specimens. Micro-CT could successfully localize the target lesion in the other 12 specimens. Distance to the nearest surgical margin was determined in 10 specimens. Agreement of micro-CT with final pathology was good, with a mean difference of -2.8% (limits of agreement -14.5% to 20.0%) for lesion size and -0.5 mm (limits of agreement -4.4 to 3.4 mm) for distance to nearest surgical margin.

Micro-CT of fresh surgical lung specimens is feasible and has the potential to evaluate the size and location of lesions within resection specimens, as well as distance to the nearest surgical margin, all without compromising specimen integrity.