title: Mapping tissue optical attenuation to identify cancer using optical coherence tomography.
abstract: The lymphatic system is a common route for the spread of cancer and the identification of lymph node metastases is a key task during cancer surgery. This paper demonstrates the use of optical coherence tomography to construct parametric images of lymph nodes. It describes a method to automatically estimate the optical attenuation coefficient of tissue. By mapping the optical attenuation coefficient at each location in the scan, it is possible to construct a parametric image indicating variations in tissue type. The algorithm is applied to ex vivo samples of human axillary lymph nodes and validated against a histological gold standard. Results are shown illustrating the variation in optical properties between cancerous and healthy tissue.
authors.affiliation: Optical+Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Uni. Western Australia, WA, Australia. robertm@ee.uwa.edu.au
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Loretta
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scolaro
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Christobel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Sampson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*