Near-IR Laser Imaging Determines Malignancy Risk Level in Pancreatic Tissues

Researchers headed by Nicusor Iftimia of Physical Sciences, Inc. have found that optical coherence tomography (OCT) is well suited to differentiate between pancreatic cysts with low and high malignancy risk.

OCT uses an optical imaging system of high resolution and reflects near-infrared laser beam away from biological tissues. This is helpful in diagnostic applications.

Researchers used the OCT scanning method to find out the unique features of the malignant cysts and thus developed certain visual standards to distinguish between high- and low- malignancy risk pancreatic cysts. The team also examined samples of pancreatic tissues that were surgically removed from patients with pancreatic cysts. The visual criteria was verified by comparing the results of OCT with that of microscopic examination of the thin sections of the tissue. The outcome of this experiment was published in the August issue of Biomedical Optics Express, a journal of the Optical Society. The study showed that OCT scan results were found to be very close to that of microscopic examination of samples and OCT is a reliable technique for differentiating high- and low malignancy risk pancreatic cysts.