title: Imaging ex vivo healthy and pathological human brain tissue with ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography.
abstract: The ability of ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR OCT) to discriminate between healthy and pathological human brain tissue is examined by imaging ex vivo tissue morphology of various brain biopsies. Micrometer-scale OCT resolution (0.9x2 microm, axialxlateral) is achieved in biological tissue by interfacing a state-of-the-art Ti:Al2O3 laser (lambda(c)=800 nm, delta lambda=260 nm, and P(out)=120 mW exfiber) to a free-space OCT system utilizing dynamic focusing. UHR OCT images are acquired from both healthy brain tissue and various types of brain tumors including fibrous, athypical, and transitional meningioma and ganglioglioma. A comparison of the tomograms with standard hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained histological sections of the imaged biopsies demonstrates the ability of UHR OCT to visualize and identify morphological features such as microcalcifications (>20 microm), enlarged nuclei of tumor cells (approximately 8 to 15 microm), small cysts, and blood vessels, which are characteristic of neuropathologies and normally absent in healthy brain tissue.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna and Christian Doppler Laboratory, Center for Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Vienna A-1090, Austria.
authors.forename: Kostadinka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bizheva
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unterhuber
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Povazay
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sattmann
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Fercher
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Preusser
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budka
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stingl
authors.forename: Tuan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Le
mesh_terms: D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004396:Coloring Agents; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS); D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D018303:Ganglioglioma / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D006416:Hematoxylin; D006801:Humans; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D008579:Meningioma / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS); D006416:Hematoxylin