Apparatus and Method for Assessment of Interstitial Tissue

Abstract

A handheld optical coherence tomography imaging and tissue sampling system and method of imaging and sampling a tissue is disclosed. The method includes inserting a catheter probe into a biopsy needle. The biopsy needle can be attached to a hand-held scanning and sampling device. The biopsy needle is maneuvered to an investigation site. A three-dimensional image of the tissue at the investigation site is captured with the catheter probe.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of imaging a sample, the method comprising:
 inserting a guidance needle and an optical probe into an investigation site of the sample, the optical probe being positioned within the guidance needle;   establishing, using a position sensor, a reference location of the optical probe at a first spatial position at the investigation site relative to the guidance needle;   capturing a first optical coherence tomography (OCT) A-line with the optical probe at the first spatial position when the optical probe is moved relative to the reference location;   detecting, using the position sensor, a spatial location of the optical probe relative to the reference location during movement of the optical probe within the sample;   capturing an OCT A-line with the optical probe at a second spatial position if the reference location and the spatial location are separated by greater than a predetermined threshold value;   if the second OCT A-line is captured, determining whether the second OCT A-line is identical to the first OCT A-line;   discarding the second OCT A-line if it is identical to the first OCT A-line; and   storing the second OCT A-line and the first OCT A-line if the second OCT A-line and the first OCT A-line are not identical.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting, using the position sensor, a second spatial location of the optical probe relative to the reference location when the optical probe is moved relative to the reference location;   capturing an OCT A-line with the optical probe in a third spatial position if the second spatial location and the first spatial location are separated by greater than the predetermined threshold value;   if the third OCT A-line is captured, determining whether the third OCT A-line is identical to the second OCT A-line;   discarding the third OCT A-line if it is identical to the second OCT A-line; and   storing the second OCT A-line and the first OCT A-line if the second OCT A-line and the first OCT A-line are not identical.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 generating an aggregate OCT image comprising the first OCT A-line and each OCT A-line of the second OCT A-line, the third OCT and any subsequent A-lines for subsequent spatial position OCT A-line that are not a repeat.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein maneuvering the optical probe further comprises control by a person, a robot, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second OCT A-line is a repeat of the first OCT image if each A-scan line is substantially similar. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the aggregate OCT image is a cross-sectional OCT image. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising emitting light from the optical probe that has a wavelength of approximately 1310 nanometers or approximately 1060 nanometers with a bandwidth of between 10 nanometers and 100 nanometers. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3  wherein a fluorescence image or a spectroscopy data set is spatially co-registered with the OCT image. 
     
     
         9 . A hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) sample imaging system comprising:
 an optical probe positioned and movable within a guidance needle, the optical probe capable of capturing OCT A-lines of the sample;   an optical scale coupled to the optical probe;   an position sensor spatially positioned relative to the optical scale, the position sensor configured to detect a location of the optical probe relative to the guidance needle for each OCT A-line taken during imaging, the detection is based on the location of the optical scale; and   a processing unit in communication with the optical probe is configured to record and display cross-sectional OCT images of the sample.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising a fluorescence or spectroscopy unit coupled to the optical probe configured to record a spatially co-registered fluorescence image or spectroscopy data set with the OCT image. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the processing unit is configured to:
 determine whether a first OCT A-line taken at a first spatial location is a repeat of a second OCT A-line taken at a second spatial location, and 
 generate an aggregate OCT image comprising the first OCT A-line and the second OCT image if the second OCT A-line and subsequent OCT A-lines are not a repeat. 
 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the reference point is the handle or the guidance needle. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a person, a robot or any combination thereof, maneuvers the optical probe by manipulating the hand-held unit. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the second OCT A-line is a repeat of the first OCT A-line if each A-line is substantially identical. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9  the optical probe emits light that has a wavelength of approximately 1310 nanometers or approximately 1060 nanometers with a bandwidth of between 10 nanometers and 100 nanometers. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the aggregate OCT image is a cross-sectional OCT image. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising an optical scale coupled to the optical probe.