Real-Time Monitoring of Laser Ablation with OCT

描述(申请人提供)：消融术已被用作治疗多种内科疾病的工具。激光消融可以在软组织中引起热损伤和机械损伤，损伤的程度与消融激光的波长、功率、光斑大小和脉冲持续时间有关。消融治疗的疗效取决于控制靶向治疗量的准确性的能力，并将附带损害降至最低。以前对消融控制的监测研究依赖于表面成像或消融后的组织病理学分析。利用光学相干层析成像(OCT)作为光学监测工具，我们将开发一种组合成像/激光消融设备，以获得有关消融过程的实时、深度分辨信息，以便准确控制消融体积，同时将附带损害降至最低。我们的方法依赖于光的独特能力来传递消融能量，同时询问组织的微观结构。虽然我们的方法适用于一系列疾病，但我们将特别关注Barrett‘s食道的治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ablation has been used as a tool for treating a wide variety of medical diseases. Laser ablation can induce both thermal and mechanical damage in soft tissue and the extent of this damage is a function of the ablation laser's wavelength, power, spot size, and pulse duration. The efficacy of ablation treatment is a function of the ability to control the accuracy of the targeted treatment volume with minimal collateral damage. Previous studies of monitoring for ablation control relied on surface imaging or post-ablation analysis using histopathology. Using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) as an optical monitoring tool we will develop a combined imaging/laser-ablation device for obtaining real-time, depth resolved information regarding the ablation process in order to accurately control the ablation volume while minimizing collateral damage. Our method relies on the unique ability of light to deliver ablative energy while simultaneously interrogating the microscopic structure of tissue. Although our approach is applicable to a spectrum of diseases, we will specifically focus on the treatment of Barrett's esophagus.