In vivo label-free lymphangiography of cutaneous lymphatic vessels in human burn scars using optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Abstract:We present an automated, label-free method for lymphangiography of cutaneous lymphatic vessels in humans in vivo using optical coherence tomography (OCT). This method corrects for the variation in OCT signal due to the confocal function and sensitivity fall-off of a spectral-domain OCT system and utilizes a single-scattering model to compensate for Ascan signal attenuation to enable reliable thresholding of lymphatic vessels. A segmentjoining algorithm is then incorporated into the method to mitigate partial-volume effects with small vessels. The lymphatic vessel images are augmented with images of the blood vessel network, acquired from the speckle decorrelation with additional weighting to differentiate blood vessels from the observed high decorrelation in lymphatic vessels. We demonstrate the method with longitudinal scans of human burn scar patients undergoing ablative fractional laser treatment, showing the visualization of the cutaneous lymphatic and blood vessel networks. Dermatol. Symp. Proc. 5(1), 14-19 (2000). 33. C. Blatter, E. F. J. Meijer, A. S. Nam, D. Jones, B. E. Bouma, T. P. Padera, and B. J. Vakoc, "In vivo label-free measurement of lymph flow velocity and volumetric flow rates using Doppler optical coherence tomography," Sci. Rep. 6, 29035 (2016).

Fully automated analysis of OCT imaging of human kidneys for prediction of post-transplant function

“…Similarly, global OCT imaging and capture of 3D volumes would provide a more detailed view of the distribution of PCT morphology, and may aid in prediction of post-transplant function. 3D volumes would similarly enable adoption of previously developed OCT segmentation strategies, for example the Hessian filter approach by Yousefi et al and single-scattering model with segment-joining algorithm by Gong et al [39,40].…”

Application of optical coherence tomography for in vivo monitoring of the meningeal lymphatic vessels during opening of blood–brain barrier: mechanisms of brain clearing

“…Note that OCT has been applied for the imaging of the cutaneous lymphatic vessels in human burn scars when the lymphatic vessels become enlarged due to accumulation of fluid in injured tissues. 14 To be sure that we visualize exactly the meningeal lymphatic vessels by OCT, which look as black empty space, we analyzed the size of the PVS. The PVS can potentially give a dark space on OCT after opening of the BBB associated with the fluid movement from the cerebral vessels into the parenchyma.…”

“…6 However, there are some challenges to studying noninvasively the meningeal lymphatic system in vivo due to the optical transparency of lymphatic vessels (low scattering and absorption) and the low speed and nonstationary flow of lymph. There are some technical solutions including digital microscopy, [7][8][9] speckle and Doppler imaging, 7-9 photoacoustic, 8,10-12 optical coherence tomography (OCT), 13,14 molecular fluorescent, 7,8,15 and near-infrared spectroscopy imaging. 16 Note that all these methods were used only for the analysis of the peripheral lymphatic vessels, but they are significantly larger and have a wider network than the meningeal lymphatic vasculature, which makes them more easily visible.…”

Label-Free In Vivo Imaging of Corneal Lymphatic Vessels Using Microscopic Optical Coherence Tomography

“…We observed most lymphatic vessels empty; in some cases, however, individual cells, flowing at slow speed, were found, which is in line with former reports. 14 Altogether, the above listed features typically are attributed to lymphatic vessels 14,19,20 and mOCT has the resolution to image them clearly.…”

“…17 The general ability of OCT to image lymphatic vessels, for example, in mouse or human skin, has been demonstrated by different groups. 18,19 Their segmentation method has been based on the analysis of statistical properties of the noise due to the absence of an OCT signal in the lymphatic vessel in adjacent B-Scans. However, because this method detects signal-free regions, it will not work in sparse structures, such as the stroma of the cornea.…”