Introduction to Optical Coherence Elastography

Abstract

Optical coherence elastography (OCE) is an emerging variant of elastography, based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) that provides microscale resolution to depths of several millimeters in dense tissue. OCE was first proposed in 1998 but has undergone extensive development only in the past ten years. Several implementations of OCE are now approaching technical maturity, and initial clinical studies have demonstrated its potential in a number of clinical applications, particularly in ophthalmology, oncology, and cardiology. In this chapter, we provide context for the development of OCE by first describing the clinical basis for elastography, and providing an overview of ultrasound elastography and magnetic resonance elastography, both of which are mature elastography techniques routinely deployed in clinical medicine. We then introduce various optical elastography techniques that have been developed in parallel with OCE, e.g., laser speckle elastography and Brillouin microscopy. Finally, we provide an introductory description of OCE as a precursor to more detailed analyses in subsequent chapters.