Optical Coherence Tomography of the Gastrointestinal Tract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that uses light to create pictures of living tissues and has been successfully used to generate high resolution cross-sectional images of tissue in the human eye and skin. OCT systems are now commercially available for eye and skin use, and several clinical reports on the use of OCT in the gastrointestinal tract have been published as well. The purpose of this study is to develop a high-speed noninvasive OCT probe which can be placed through an endoscope for the early diagnosis of pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions in the gastrointestinal tract. This is a pilot clinical research study that is designed to advance OCT technology, which may in the future be able to replace or augment endoscopic biopsies.