Optical Resolution Photoacoustic Microscopy of Ovary and Fallopian Tube

Bin Rao,Carolyn K Mccourt,Ian S Hagemann,Yifeng Zeng,David G Mutch,Matthew A Powell,Andrea R Hagemann,Xiandong Leng,Qifa Zhou,Yixiao Lin,Quing Zhu,Ruimin Chen,Lindsay M Kuroki

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50743-7

Bin Rao, Carolyn K Mccourt + Show 11 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50743-7

Copy DOI

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among gynecological cancers, but is poorly amenable to preoperative diagnosis. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of “optical biopsy,” using high-optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) to quantify the microvasculature of ovarian and fallopian tube tissue. The technique is demonstrated using excised human ovary and fallopian tube specimens imaged immediately after surgery. Quantitative parameters are derived using Amira software. The parameters include three-dimensional vascular segment count, total volume and length, which are associated with tumor angiogenesis. Qualitative results of OR-PAM demonstrate that malignant ovarian tissue has larger and more tortuous blood vessels as well as smaller vessels of different sizes, while benign and normal ovarian tissue has smaller vessels of uniform size. Quantitative analysis shows that malignant ovaries have greater tumor vessel volume, length and number of segments, as compared with benign and normal ovaries. The vascular pattern of benign fallopian tube is different than that of benign ovarian tissue. Our initial results demonstrate the potential of OR-PAM as an imaging tool for fast assessment of ovarian tissue and fallopian tube and could avoid unnecessary surgery if the risk of the examined ovary is extremely low.

Highlights

Laparoscopic, in vivo “optical biopsy” methods could potentially provide diagnostic results similar to conventional biopsy in real time and avoid unnecessary operations
Many research groups have explored OR-Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) in various clinical applications, such as human oral cavity[19], skin[20] and breast cancer[21] imaging and diagnosis. This manuscript reports the first study of OR-PAM for imaging and quantification of microvascular components of human ovary and fallopian tube, which is suspected as the origin of high-grade serous carcinoma
We report the development and application of a novel high optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) system for imaging microvascular components of ovarian tissue and fallopian tube

Summary

Introduction

Laparoscopic, in vivo “optical biopsy” methods could potentially provide diagnostic results similar to conventional biopsy in real time and avoid unnecessary operations Such optical biopsy methods include optical coherence tomography, which can capture changes in ovarian tissue light scattering due to collagen fiber erosion by cancer cells[9,10,11]; second-harmonic-generation microscopy, which can quantify the alteration of extracellular collagen matrix in malignant ovarian tissue[12]; and intraoperative fluorescence imaging[13]. Many research groups have explored OR-PAM in various clinical applications, such as human oral cavity[19], skin[20] and breast cancer[21] imaging and diagnosis This manuscript reports the first study of OR-PAM for imaging and quantification of microvascular components of human ovary and fallopian tube, which is suspected as the origin of high-grade serous carcinoma

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion