Steven G Adie et al 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 3129 doi:10.1088/0031-9155/54/10/011
Steven G Adie1, Brendan F Kennedy, Julian J Armstrong, Sergey A Alexandrov and David D Sampson
Show affiliationsWe present a new approach to optical coherence elastography (OCE), which probes the local elastic properties of tissue by using optical coherence tomography to measure the effect of an applied stimulus in the audio frequency range. We describe the approach, based on analysis of the Bessel frequency spectrum of the interferometric signal detected from scatterers undergoing periodic motion in response to an applied stimulus. We present quantitative results of sub-micron excitation at 820 Hz in a layered phantom and the first such measurements in human skin in vivo.
General scientific summary. We present a novel optical coherence elastography technique to investigate the elastic properties of tissue in the hundred hertz to kilohertz range. The technique uses optical coherence tomography, which is based on low-coherence interferometry, to detect the vibration amplitude of tissue introduced by an actuator. We describe extraction of the vibration amplitude based on analysis of the Bessel frequency spectrum of the detected interferometric signal. We present results using 820 Hz excitation that clearly distinguish between the layers in a three-layer phantom. The first measurements of the elastic properties of human skin in vivo based on optical coherence tomography, also at 820 Hz, are presented. It is estimated that the Young's modulus of the epidermis is 3.7±0.2 times greater than that of the dermis. This technique could provide a new high-resolution contrast mechanism to aid physicians in the detection of various tissue pathologies, including cancer.
42.30.Wb Image reconstruction; tomography
87.19.R- Mechanical and electrical properties of tissues and organs
Instrumentation and measurement
Issue 10 (21 May 2009)
Received 1 December 2008, in final form 3 April 2009
Published 6 May 2009
Steven G Adie et al 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 3129
Markus Penz et al 2006 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 39 423
Subhanjoy Mohanty et al. 2009 ApJ 697 713
X George Xu et al 2007 Phys. Med. Biol. 52 7023
W C Stolte et al 1997 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 30 4489
V V Nesterenko et al 2003 Class. Quantum Grav. 20 431
Anil Gannepalli and Surya K Mallapragada 2001 Nanotechnology 12 250
A S Echiadis et al 2007 Physiol. Meas. 28 897
Andreas Solga et al 2007 Bioinspir. Biomim. 2 S126
Gregory E Rutkowski et al 2004 J. Neural Eng. 1 151