Line-scan Raman microscopy complements optical coherence tomography for tumor boundary detection

Current technique for tumor resection requires biopsy of the tumor region and histological confirmation before the surgeon can be certain that the entire tumor has been resected. This confirmation process is time consuming both for the surgeon and the patient and also requires sacrifice of healthy tissue, motivating the development of novel technologies which can enable real-time detection of tumor-healthy tissue boundary for faster and more efficient surgeries. In this study, the potential of combining structural information from optical coherence tomography (OCT) and molecular information from line-scan Raman microscopy (LSRM) for such an application is presented. The results show a clear presence of boundary between myxoid liposarcoma and normal fat which is easily identifiable both from structural and molecular information. In cases where structural images are indistinguishable, for example, in normal fat and well differentiated liposarcoma (WDLS) or gastrointestinal sarcoma tumor (GIST) and myxoma, distinct molecular spectra have been obtained. The results suggest LSRM can effectively complement OCT to tumor boundary demarcation with high specificity. (letter)