Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging methodology that is able to image tissue to depths of over 1 mm. Many epithelial conditions, such as melanoma and oral cancers, require an invasive biopsy for diagnosis. A noninvasive, real-time, point of care method of imaging depth-resolved epithelial structure could greatly improve early diagnosis and long-term monitoring in patients. Here, we have used tissue-engineered (TE) models of normal skin and oral mucosa to generate models of melanoma and oral cancer. We have used these to determine the ability of OCT to image epithelial differences in vitro. We report that while in vivo OCT gives reasonable depth information for both skin and oral mucosa, in vitro the information provided is less detailed but still useful. OCT can provide reassurance on the development of TE models of skin and oral mucosa as they develop in vitro. OCT was able to detect the gross alteration in the epithelium of skin and mucosal models generated with malignant cell lines but was less able to detect alteration in the epithelium of TE models that mimicked oral dysplasia or, in models where tumor cells had penetrated into the dermis.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique based on the low coherence interferometry, in which
signals are obtained based on the coherent addition of the back reflected light from the sample. Applying computational
methods and automated algorithms towards the classification of OCT images allows a further step towards enhancing the
clinical applications of OCT. One attempt towards classification could be achieved by statistically analyzing the texture
of the noisy granular patterns - speckles that make the OCT images. An attempt has been made to quantify the scattering
effects based on the speckle texture patterns the scatterers produce. Statistical inference is drawn from the textural
analysis of the features based on the spatial intensity distribution on the agar phantoms with different concentration of
Intralipid solutions. This preliminary study conducted on agar-Intralipid solution has showed us that it is possible to
differentiate between different types of scatterers based on the speckle texture studies. The texture analysis has also been
extended in an attempt to identify the invasion of melanoma cell into tissue engineered skin. However using the same
approach of texture analysis, we have not obtained satisfactory results for carrying on with the computer-based
identification of the invasion of the melanoma in the tissue engineered skin, the reason for which has to be further
studied and investigated upon.
There is an increasing need for a robust simple to use non-invasive imaging technology for monitoring tissue engineered
constructs as they develop. We have applied optical coherence tomography (OCT), a relatively new optical technique, to
image tissue engineered constructs. Our aim was to evaluate the use of swept-source optical coherence tomography (SSOCT)
to non-invasively image reconstructed skin as it developed over several weeks. The epidermis of the reconstructed
skin was readily distinguished from the neodermis when examined with standard histology - a destructive imaging
technique - of samples. The development of reconstructed skin based on deepithelialised acellular dermis (DED) was
accurately monitored with SS-OCT over three weeks and confirmed with conventional histology. It was also possible to
image changes in the epidermis due to the presence of melanoma and the healing of these 3D models after wounding
with a scalpel, with or without the addition of a fibrin clot. SS-OCT is proving to be a valuable tool in tissue engineering,
showing great promise for the non-invasive imaging of optically turbid tissue engineered constructs, including tissue
engineered skin.
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