Skin cancer margin detection using nanosensitive optical coherence tomography and a comparative study with confocal microscopy

Rajib Dey; Sergey Alexandrov; Peter Owens; Jack Kelly; Sine Phelan; Martin Leahy

doi:10.1364/BOE.474334

Skin cancer margin detection using nanosensitive optical coherence tomography and a comparative study with confocal microscopy

Biomed Opt Express. 2022 Oct 7;13(11):5654-5666. doi: 10.1364/BOE.474334. eCollection 2022 Nov 1.

Authors

Rajib Dey¹, Sergey Alexandrov¹, Peter Owens², Jack Kelly³, Sine Phelan⁴, Martin Leahy^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Tissue Optics and Microcirculation Imaging (TOMI) Facility, National Biophotonics and Imaging Platform School of Physics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway, Ireland.
² Center for Microscopy and Imaging, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway, Ireland.
³ Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Galway University Hospital, Galway, Ireland.
⁴ Department of Anatomic Pathology, Galway University Hospital and Department of Pathology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway, Ireland.
⁵ Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

Excision biopsy and histology represent the gold standard for morphological investigation of the skin, in particular for cancer diagnostics. Nevertheless, a biopsy may alter the original morphology, usually requires several weeks for results, is non-repeatable on the same site and always requires an iatrogenic trauma. Hence, diagnosis and clinical management of diseases may be substantially improved by new non-invasive imaging techniques. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive depth-resolved optical imaging modality based on low coherence interferometry that enables high-resolution, cross-sectional imaging in biological tissues and it can be used to obtain both structural and functional information. Beyond the resolution limit, it is not possible to detect structural and functional information using conventional OCT. In this paper, we present a recently developed technique, nanosensitive OCT (nsOCT), improved using broadband supercontinuum laser, and demonstrate nanoscale sensitivity to structural changes within ex vivo human skin tissue. The extended spectral bandwidth permitted access to a wider distribution of spatial frequencies and improved the dynamic range of the nsOCT. Firstly, we demonstrate numerical and experimental detection of a few nanometers structural difference using the nsOCT method from single B-scan images of phantoms with sub-micron periodic structures, acting like Bragg gratings, along the depth. Secondly, our study shows that nsOCT can distinguish nanoscale structural changes at the skin cancer margin from the healthy region in en face images at clinically relevant depths. Finally, we compare the nsOCT en face image with a high-resolution confocal microscopy image to confirm the structural differences between the healthy and lesional/cancerous regions, allowing the detection of the skin cancer margin.

Published by Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.