Acquired subglottic stenosis is a narrowing of the airway caused by prolonged endotracheal intubation. Currently, there are no non-invasive means to diagnose the disease. A previous study by this same group introduced optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a means of monitoring the progression of stenosis. The aim of the current study was to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze OCT images obtained from a subglottic stenosis model of the rabbit airway. 15 rabbits were used throughout the study, and a MEMs based OCT probe was utilized. The OCT images obtained were analyzed using a free software program, 3D Slicer. The region of scarred tissue was grown out and measured quantitatively. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using a program to quantify the progression of scarring in OCT images, in addition to qualitatively correlating between histology, endoscopic, and OCT images. Future works may include utilization of a long-range probe and use of a pressure necrosis model to better emulate the actual onset of neonatal subglottic stenosis.

Date Published: 8 March 2013
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 8565, Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics IX, 856521 (8 March 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2014252

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8565:
Photonic Therapeutics and Diagnostics IX
Andreas Mandelis; Brian Jet-Fei Wong; Anita Mahadevan-Jansen; Henry Hirschberg M.D.; Hyun Wook Kang; Nikiforos Kollias; Melissa J. Suter; Kenton W. Gregory M.D.; Guillermo J. Tearney M.D.; Stephen Lam; Bernard Choi; Steen J. Madsen; Bodo E. Knudsen M.D.; E. Duco Jansen; Justus F. Ilgner M.D.; Haishan Zeng; Matthew Brenner; Laura Marcu, Editor(s)