In vivo endoscopic multifunctional optical coherence tomography imaging of lungs periphery before and after bronchial thermoplasty

We present a motorized distal scanning endoscope with an outer diameter of 1.35 mm and 52 fps rotation speed for in vivo imaging in the peripheral airways of lungs [1]. Lung segments of an asthma patient pre and post bronchial thermoplasty (BT) treatment were imaged [2]. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) intensity images, attenuation coefficient (AC) images and polarization sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) images showing both birefringence, optic axis uniformity (OAxU) and optic axis (OA) orientation were extracted from the acquired data. PS-OCT endoscopy visualized airway smooth muscle layer thickness and location pre and post BT treatment as means to predict its effectiveness.