OPTICAL BIOPSY IN HUMAN PANCREATICOBILIARY TISSUE USING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new technique for performing h igh-resolution, cross-sectional tomographic imaging in human tissue. O CT is analogous to ultrasound B mode imaging except that it uses light rather than acoustical waves. As a result, OCT has over 10 times the resolution of currently available clinical high-resolution cross-secti onal imaging technologies. In this work, we investigate the capability of OCT to differentiate the architectural morphology of pancreatobili ary tissues. Normal pancreatobiliary tissues, including the gallbladde r, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, and pancreas were taken postmort em and imaged using OCT. Images were compared to corresponding histolo gy to confirm tissue identity. Microstructure was delineated in differ ent tissues, including tissue layers, glands, submucosal microvasculat ure, and pancreatic islets of Langerhans. The ability of OCT to provid e high-resolution imaging of pancreatobiliary architectural morphology suggests the feasibility of using OCT as a powerful diagnostic endosc opic imaging technology to image early stages of pancreatobiliary dise ase.