Optical biopsy in human pancreatobiliary tissue using optical coherence tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new technique for performing high-resolution, cross-sectional tomographic imaging in human tissue. OCT is analogous to ultrasound B mode imaging except that it uses light rather than acoustical waves. As a result, OCT has over 10 times the resolution of currently available clinical high-resolution cross-sectional imaging technologies. In this work, we investigate the capability of OCT to differentiate the architectural morphology of pancreatobiliary tissues. Normal pancreatobiliary tissues, including the gallbladder, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, and pancreas were taken postmortem and imaged using OCT. Images were compared to corresponding histology to confirm tissue identity. Microstructure was delineated in different tissues, including tissue layers, glands, submucosal microvasculature, and pancreatic islets of Langerhans. The ability of OCT to provide high-resolution imaging of pancreatobiliary architectural morphology suggests the feasibility of using OCT as a powerful diagnostic endoscopic imaging technology to image early stages of pancreatobiliary disease.