Point-to-point optical coherence elastography using a novel phase velocity method

Abstract

Optical coherence elastography (OCE) offers great promise for clinical application, however, its method for measuring elastic wave velocity has already become a big obstacle to further development. Here we proposed a novel phase velocity method, by which elastic wave velocity and Young's modulus of each position in a sample were obtained for the first time. More importantly, based on the one-to-one correspondence between position and Young's modulus, the Young's modulus values were directly mapped to the corresponding structure to achieve two-dimensional elasticity distribution image, where tiny differences in biomechanical properties within and between any regions-of-interest could be precisely identified. Our method realizes the first point-to-point OCE imaging that enables us to read and compare elasticity information directly from tissue structure, which may be convenient to make effective clinical judgements and thus improve the clinical translation of OCE.