Optical coherence tomography for thyroid pathology: 3D analysis of tissue microstructure.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Thyroid Pathology

Background:

• Distinguishing between normal and pathologic thyroid tissue is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.
• Traditional histopathology requires tissue removal and processing, which can be time-consuming.
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers high-resolution, non-invasive imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the capability of 3D optical coherence tomography (OCT) to differentiate normal from pathologic thyroid tissue.
• To analyze quantitative parameters of thyroid follicular structure using OCT.
• To assess the potential of OCT for intraoperative guidance and routine pathology assessment.

Main Methods:

• Acquired 3D OCT images of ex vivo thyroid samples (n=22) from adult subjects with various pathologies.
• Analyzed follicular structure based on count, size, density, and sphericity from OCT images.
• Correlated OCT findings with corresponding histopathology results.

Main Results:

• OCT images demonstrated high agreement with histopathology findings.
• Quantitative parameters derived from OCT were representative of follicular structure variations.
• OCT analysis provided quantitative data potentially enabling automatic tissue classification.

Conclusions:

• OCT is a promising tool for distinguishing normal from pathologic thyroid tissue.
• The quantitative analysis of OCT volumes can support automated classification of thyroid tissues.
• OCT can serve as a valuable aid in intraoperative surgical guidance and routine pathology assessment.