In vivo 3D human vocal fold imaging with polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography and a MEMS scanning catheter

We present in-vivo 3D human vocal fold images with polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). Characterizing the extent and location of vocal fold lesions provides useful information in guiding surgeons during phonomicrosurgery. Previous studies showed that PS-OCT imaging can distinguish vocal fold lesions from normal tissue, but these studies were limited to 2D cross-sectional imaging and were susceptible to sampling error. In-vivo 3D endoscopic imaging was performed by using a recently developed 2-axis MEMS scanning catheter and a spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT), running at 18.5 frames/s. Imaging was performed in the operating room with patients under general anesthesia and 3D images were acquired either by 2D scanning of the scanner on the sites of interest or by combining 1D scanning and manual sliding to capture whole length of the vocal fold. Vocal fold scar, polyps, nodules, papilloma and malignant lesions were imaged and characteristics of individual lesions were analyzed in terms of spatial distribution and variation of tissue structure and birefringence. The 3D large sectional PS-OCT imaging showed that the spatial extent of vocal fold lesions can be found non-invasively with good contrast from normal tissue.