Intra-operative tumor residue detection in operations on the central nervous system with OCT - pilot study
The project is receiving financial support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), with a budget of €147,500 allocated as part of the DATIpilot Innovation Sprints Initiative. The project is being conducted in collaboration between the Department of Neurosurgery, the Institute of Biomedical Optics at the University of Lübeck and the Medical Laser Centre Lübeck, which developed the OCT AirJet system.
Aim
The objective of the "OCT-AirJet" initiative is to enhance the precision and safety of brain tumor removal procedures. The underlying concept of the OCT-AirJet project is to employ a sterile air pulse (AirJet) with a micrometer range to delicately indent the surface of brain tissue and brain tumors. The resulting deformation can be recorded contact-free and with depth resolution using OCT imaging, analyzed with regard to tissue elasticity, and thus the tissue can be classified as healthy or diseased.
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Background
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique that utilizes light waves to render the structure of tissue up to three millimeters deep visible in two- and three-dimensional images. In the context of surgical interventions, OCT-based measurements have the potential to differentiate between healthy tissue and tumor tissue. The basis of this distinction stems from the observation that tumors and healthy brain tissue frequently exhibit divergent mechanical properties.