Volumetric Optical Imaging of Tissue Microstructure for Grading of Dysplasia In Vivo

Optical imaging offers unique advantages in medical diagnostics. In particular, high resolution, fast imaging speed, and strong depth penetration make optical coherence tomography (OCT) an attractive modality for non-perturbatively investigating structural changes in tissue that accompany disease progression on the microscale. Although clinical interpretation of OCT images is generally qualitative, the scattered light intensity signal underlying these images may be analyzed further to calculate sub-resolution sample properties, accessing additional functional information in tissue. Developing meaningful ways to compute and interpret these properties could enable earlier detection of structural disease-associated tissue changes, such as increases in sizes and densities of epithelial nuclei with the progression of esophageal dysplasia. In this thesis research, we investigate the application of novel signal processing methods and custom OCT hardware to uncover biomarkers of dysplasia based on these pathological changes in cell nuclei. Further, we apply our methods to evaluate patients during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy using a custom imaging device designed for enhanced sensitivity to these dysplastic changes, potentiating a more sensitive screening paradigm towards earlier detection of esophageal cancer.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Cannon, Taylor M.

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Bouma, Brett E.
• Uribe-Patarroyo, Néstor

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Copyright retained by author(s)

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/151485

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/151485