Label-free micro-imaging in medicine and biology with optical coherence tomography

New and better tools to image biological tissue in vivo are important for biological and biomedical research based on animal models, and also important for next-generation diagnosis and surgical guidance in the medical setting. Whilst optical microscopy continues to advance on the cellular and sub-cellular scale, and medical imaging tools, such as positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, are well established on the scale of the whole organ, imaging the tissue environment in situ on the micro- scale, between that of cells and whole tissues, is currently challenging.
My research has been exploring the potential of optical coherence tomography for label-free imaging of tissues, on the resolution scale of 2-20 m and over fields of view in the range 1-50 mm per dimension. We have been developing the capacity to perform such imaging using hand-held probes and from within hypodermic needles, which can be delivered to locations deep in tissues not normally accessible to optical imaging. We have been exploring extensions of this method that improve contrast and allow us to perform angiography and lymphangiography. In this talk, I will draw on various example applications, including breast cancer tumour margin assessment, skin burn scar longitudinal monitoring, and airway smooth muscle assessment for asthma.

The third lecture in the 2018-2019 series of IOP Edinburgh Winter Lectures