Autofluorescence (AF) imaging provides valuable information about the structural and chemical states of tissue that can be used for early cancer detection. Optical scattering and absorption of excitation and emission light by the epithelium can significantly affect observed tissue AF intensity. Determining the effect of epithelial attenuation on the AF intensity could lead to a more accurate interpretation of AF intensity. We propose to use optical coherence tomography coregistered with AF imaging to characterize the AF attenuation due to the epithelium. We present imaging results from three vital tissue models, each consisting of a three-dimensional tissue culture grown from one ...

For the first time, the use of fiber-optic color Doppler optical coherence tomography (CDOCT) to map in vivo the three-dimensional (3-D) vascular network of airway segments in human lungs is demonstrated. Visualizing the 3-D vascular network in the lungs may provide new opportunities for detecting and monitoring lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Our CDOCT instrument employs a rotary fiber-optic probe that provides simultaneous two-dimensional (2-D) real-time structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) and CDOCT imaging at frame rates up to 12.5 frames per second. Controlled pullback of the probe allows 3-D vascular mapping ...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising technique for clinical diagnosis of various types of tissue, because high-resolution tomography is easily obtained by its compact imaging optics. The fundamental principles of OCT evolved from optical one-dimensional low-coherence reflectometry, which uses a Michelson interferometer and a broadband light source. Due to the additional transverse scanning (B-scan), two-dimensional imaging was obtained, and this technique was named OCT by Fujimoto and rapidly expanded to numerous biomedical and clinical applications

Architectural changes in and remodeling of the bronchial and pulmonary vasculature are important pathways in diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. However, there is a lack of methods that can find and examine small bronchial vasculature in vivo. Structural lung airway imaging using optical coherence tomography (OCT) has previously been shown to be of great utility in examining bronchial lesions during lung cancer screening under the guidance of autofluorescence bronchoscopy. Using a fiber optic endoscopic OCT probe, we acquire OCT images from in vivo human subjects. The side-looking, circumferentially-scanning probe is inserted down the ...

Ever since the site and nature of airflow obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was described by Hogg, Thurlbeck, and Macklem, investigators have been looking for methods to noninvasively measure the airway wall dimensions. Recent advances in computed tomography technology and new computer algorithms have made it possible to visualize and measure the airway wall and lumen without the need for tissue. However, while there is great hope for computed tomographic assessment of airways, it is well known that the spatial resolution does not allow small airways to be visualized and there are still concerns about the sensitivity of these ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous disease, characterized by both small airway and parenchymal abnormalities. There is increasing evidence to suggest that these two morphologic phenotypes, while related, may have different clinical presentations, prognosis and therapeutic responses to medications. With the advent of novel imaging modalities, it is now possible to evaluate these two morphologic phenotypes in large clinical studies using non or minially invasive methods such as computed tomography (CT), magentic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). In this paper, we provide a pictorial overview of these modalities in the context of COPD and discuss ...