Real-Time Monitoring of Laser Ablation with OCT

描述（由申请人提供）：消融已被用作治疗各种医学疾病的工具。激光消融可在软组织中引起热和机械损伤，并且这种损伤的程度是消融激光的波长、功率、光斑尺寸和脉冲持续时间的函数。消融治疗的有效性取决于在最小附带损伤的情况下控制靶向治疗体积的准确性的能力。先前的消融控制监测研究依赖于表面成像或使用组织病理学的消融后分析。使用光学相干断层扫描（OCT）作为光学监测工具，我们将开发一种组合成像/激光消融装置，用于获得有关消融过程的实时、深度分辨信息，以准确控制消融体积，同时最大限度地减少附带损伤。我们的方法依赖于光的独特能力，以提供消融能量，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，但我们将特别关注巴雷特食管的治疗。

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.