First-in-human spinal cord tumor imaging with fast adaptive focus tracking robotic-OCT

Current surgical procedures for spinal cord tumors lack in vivo high-resolution, high-speed multifunctional imaging systems, posing challenges for precise tumor resection and intraoperative decision-making. This study introduces the Fast Adaptive Focus Tracking Robotic Optical Coherence Tomography (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors He, Bin, Yuzhe Ying, Shi, Yejiong, Meng, Zhe, Yin, Zichen, Chen, Zhengyu, Hu, Zhangwei, Xue, Ruizhi, Linkai Jing, Lu, Yang, Sun, Zhenxing, Man, Weitao, Wu, Youtu, Lei, Dan, Zhang, Ning, Wang, Guihuai, Xue, Ping
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 30.10.2024
Subjects
Adaptive systems
Attenuation coefficients
Glioma
Heterogeneity
High resolution
Human motion
Image resolution
In vivo methods and tests
Medical imaging
Optical Coherence Tomography
Real time
Robotics
Spinal cord
Surgery
Tortuosity
Tracking
Tumors
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Summary:Current surgical procedures for spinal cord tumors lack in vivo high-resolution, high-speed multifunctional imaging systems, posing challenges for precise tumor resection and intraoperative decision-making. This study introduces the Fast Adaptive Focus Tracking Robotic Optical Coherence Tomography (FACT-ROCT) system,designed to overcome these obstacles by providing real-time, artifact-free multifunctional imaging of spinal cord tumors during surgery. By integrating cross-scanning, adaptive focus tracking and robotics, the system addresses motion artifacts and resolution degradation from tissue movement, achieving wide-area, high-resolution imaging. We conducted intraoperative imaging on 21 patients, including 13 with spinal gliomas and 8 with other tumors. This study marks the first demonstration of OCT in situ imaging of human spinal cord tumors, providing micrometer-scale in vivo structural images and demonstrating FACT-ROCT's potential to differentiate various tumor types in real-time. Analysis of the attenuation coefficients of spinal gliomas revealed increased heterogeneity with higher malignancy grades. So, we proposed the standard deviation of the attenuation coefficient as a physical marker, achieving over 90% accuracy in distinguishing high- from low-grade gliomas intraoperatively at a threshold. FACT-ROCT even enabled extensive in vivo microvascular imaging of spinal cord tumors, covering 70 mm * 13 mm * 10 mm within 2 minutes. Quantitative vascular tortuosity comparisons confirmed greater tortuosity in higher-grade tumors. The ability to perform extensive vascular imaging and real-time tumor grading during surgery provides critical information for surgical strategy, such as minimizing intraoperative bleeding and optimizing tumor resection while preserving functional tissue.
ISSN:2331-8422