Researchers headed by Nicusor Iftimia of Physical Sciences, Inc. have found that optical coherence tomography (OCT) is well suited to differentiate between pancreatic cysts with low and high malignancy risk.
OCT uses an optical imaging system of high resolution and reflects near-infrared laser beam away from biological tissues. This is helpful in diagnostic applications.
Researchers used the OCT scanning method to find out the unique features of the malignant cysts and thus developed certain visual standards to distinguish between high- and low- malignancy risk pancreatic cysts. The team also examined samples of pancreatic tissues that were surgically removed from patients with pancreatic cysts. The visual criteria was verified by comparing the results of OCT with that of microscopic examination of the thin sections of the tissue. The outcome of this experiment was published in the August issue of Biomedical Optics Express, a journal of the Optical Society. The study showed that OCT scan results were found to be very close to that of microscopic examination of samples and OCT is a reliable technique for differentiating high- and low malignancy risk pancreatic cysts.
The research team will concentrate on enhancing the resolution of imaging to differentiate between autoimmune pancreatitis and solid lesions, and test this phenomenon in vivo. The FDA had recently approved OCT testing in humans with the help of a compact OCT probe which can be introduced in to the pancreas using a biopsy needle. This needle will be guided towards the suspected malignant tissue using the endoscopic ultrasound imaging technique.
A clinical study will be initiated within a few months. If the results of in vivo testing prove to be satisfactory, then the studies will be extended to a larger number of patients, subject to approval by the FDA and NIH funding.