Resumen
Multiple technological solutions are being explored to be used in the intraoperative assessment of resection margins in breast cancer and detection of the residual tumor cells during breast-conserving surgery (BCS) for the purpose of reducing the need for a re-resection. We applied the cross-polarization optical coherence tomography (CP OCT) method for intraoperative ex vivo human breast cancer specimens imaging and performed a qualitative and quantitative assessment of 3D CP OCT data using a depth-resolved approach of measuring the attenuation coefficient estimation in co- and cross-polarization channels. En face color-coded attenuation coefficient maps were constructed, and targeted calculations of the characteristic median value of the attenuation coefficients in both channels were performed for different breast tissue regions. As a result, highly accurate differentiation of the tumorous from non-tumorous breast tissue was achieved. This new optical technique with estimation attenuation coefficients of volumetric CP OCT data can be used as an innovative adjunct intraoperative tool to evaluate resection margins during BCS and to perform a targeted histological biopsy.