Cervical soft tissue motion measurement by optical coherence tomography

To design a semi-automatic laser scalpel for tissue resection in the area of neck masses it was necessary to examine the biomechanic behavour of these tissues. The aim was to identify if and to what extent (amplitude and velocity) the tissues shift due to respiration and circulation. This is important since these movements have to be followed by the laser scalpel. At defined points on the neck surface one-dimensional (1-D) time related Optical Coherence Tomography OCT measurements were recorded. Tissue shifting in the direction of the OCT-sightaxis was quantified. The preliminary results of these basic experiments shown here will be used for acquisition and definition of data sets which have to be provided by a laser therapy system to guarantee both precision and safety.