title: Swept-Source Anatomic Optical Coherence Elastography of Porcine Trachea.
abstract: Quantitative endoscopic imaging is at the vanguard of novel techniques in the assessment upper airway obstruction. Anatomic optical coherence tomography (aOCT) has the potential to provide the geometry of the airway lumen with high-resolution and in 4 dimensions. By coupling aOCT with measurements of pressure, optical coherence elastography (OCE) can be performed to characterize airway wall stiffness. This can aid in identifying regions of dynamic collapse as well as informing computational fluid dynamics modeling to aid in surgical decision-making. Toward this end, here we report on an anatomic optical coherence tomography (aOCT) system powered by a wavelength-swept laser source. The system employs a fiber-optic catheter with outer diameter of 0.82 mm deployed via the bore of a commercial, flexible bronchoscope. Helical scans are performed to measure the airway geometry and to quantify the cross-sectional-area (CSA) of the airway. We report on a preliminary validation of aOCT for elastography, in which aOCT-derived CSA was obtained as a function of pressure to estimate airway wall compliance. Experiments performed on a Latex rubber tube resulted in a compliance measurement of 0.68±0.02 mm2/cmH2O, with R2=0.98 over the pressure range from 10 to 40 cmH2O. Next, ex vivo porcine trachea was studied, resulting in a measured compliance from 1.06±0.12 to 3.34±0.44 mm2/cmH2O, (R2>0.81). The linearity of the data confirms the elastic nature of the airway. The compliance values are within the same order-of-magnitude as previous measurements of human upper airways, suggesting that this system is capable of assessing airway wall compliance in future human studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 27599.
authors.forename: Ruofei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 27599.
authors.forename: Hillel
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Price
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 27599.
authors.forename: Sorin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitran
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 27599.
authors.forename: Carlton
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zdanski
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 27599; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 27599; Biomedical Research Imaging Center; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 27599.
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Oldenburg
keywords: airway wall compliance; anatomic optical coherence tomography; elastography