Optical coherence tomography -: a new non-invasive high resolution imaging for cancer and precancerous lesions of the upper aerodigestive tract

Introduction: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new optical method for high resolution which uses infrared light. After combining an OCT imaging system with a rigid endoscope non-invasive imaging of the pharyngeal and laryngeal mucosa is possible. Patients and Methods: So far 25 patients with suspicious lesions of the head and neck were examined with OCT. For pathological confirmation of the diagnosis biopsies were taken. Results: In comparison to histological methods the penetration depth of this new imaging method is 1.5 to 2 mm and the resolution 15 to 20 mum. In the cases of invasive cancer we could observe the destruction of the basal membrane in the OCT scans. Conclusion: OCT can be further developed as a non-invasive imaging tool for the differentiation between invasive cancer and precancerosis especially in the larynx.