Diagnosis of oral precancer with optical coherence tomography

Abstract

A procedure for computer analyzing an optical coherence tomography (OCT) image of normal and precancerous oral mucosae is demonstrated to reasonably plot the boundary between epithelium (EP) and lamina propria (LP) layers, determine the EP thickness, and estimate the range of dysplastic cell distribution based on standard deviation (SD) mapping. In this study, 54 normal oral mucosa, 39 oral mild dysplasia, and 44 oral moderate dysplasia OCT images are processed for evaluating the diagnosis statistics. Based on SD mapping in an OCT image, it is found that the laterally average range percentages of 70% SD maximum level in the EP layer is a reasonably good threshold for differentiating moderate dysplasia from mild dysplasia oral lesion based on the OCT image analysis. The sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis statistics can reach 82 and 90%, respectively.

Automated classification of optical coherence tomography images for the diagnosis of oral malignancy in the hamster cheek pouch

“…These features were derived from one-dimensional A-line profiles, which provide a partial characterization of an inherently 2-D OCT B-scan image. Likewise, in a recent publication, Lee et al 7 have described a metric based on the standard deviation of the intensity in an OCT B-scan, similar to the previous study, to characterize the oral tissue. To make better use of the information contained in a 2-D OCT B-scan, the standard deviation metric described was computed over a moving 2-D window to obtain a map of standard deviations for each OCT B-scan.…”

“…In the context of oral cancer, very few studies 6,7 have assessed the performance of computational methods for tissue characterization. Yang et al 6 analyzed the diagnostic potential of three OCT features, namely the standard deviation of an A-line signal, the exponential decay constant of the spatialfrequency spectrum of an A-line profile, and the epithelial thickness.…”

Design and characterization of a handheld multimodal imaging device for the assessment of oral epithelial lesions

“…Several optical imaging modalities, such as confocal microscopy, [8][9][10][11][12] high resolution microendoscopy (HRME), [13][14][15] and optical coherence tomography (OCT), [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] have been proposed as methods for noninvasive "optical biopsy" to improve the accuracy of oral cancer screening. Reflectance and fluorescence confocal microscopy have demonstrated the ability to provide subcellular resolution of optically sectioned images within the epithelial layer due to native tissue contrast or when used with topically applied or intravenous contrast agents.…”

“…25,26 Contrast in OCT arises from the native optical properties of the tissue, providing the ability to distinguish tissue layers and potential disease states. By measuring factors such as the epithelial thickness [16][17][18][19][20][21] and vasculature, 22 OCT has demonstrated potential as a useful aid in the diagnosis of oral cancer. However, while OCT can provide assessment of the entire epithelium and superficial stroma, spatial resolution at the 10 to 20-μm scale means that individual cells cannot be resolved.…”

“…However, while OCT can provide assessment of the entire epithelium and superficial stroma, spatial resolution at the 10 to 20-μm scale means that individual cells cannot be resolved. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Although both HRME and OCT have been individually used to distinguish dysplastic from healthy oral mucosa, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] the combination of these complementary imaging modalities may overcome the practical limitations of each system alone. The use of these complementary imaging modalities may aid the clinician in the evaluation of oral lesions during both diagnosis and resection.…”