The First In Vivo Needle‐Based Optical Coherence Tomography in Human Prostate: A Safety and Feasibility Study

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the safety and feasibility of clinical in vivo needle‐based optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the prostate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two patients with prostate cancer underwent each two percutaneous in vivo needle‐based OCT measurements before transperineal template mapping biopsy. The OCT probe was introduced via a needle and positioned under ultrasound guidance. To test the safety, adverse events were recorded during and after the procedure. To test the feasibility, OCT and US images were studied during and after the procedure. Corresponding regions for OCT and biopsy were determined. A uropathologist evaluated and annotated the histopathology. Three experts assessed all the corresponding OCT images. The OCT and biopsy conclusions for the corresponding regions were compared. RESULTS: No adverse events during and following the, in total four, in vivo needle‐based OCT measurements were reported. The OCT measurements showed images of prostatic tissue with a penetration depth of ~1.5 mm. The histological‐proven tissue types, which were also found in the overlapping OCT images, were benign glands, stroma, glandular atrophy, and adenocarcinoma (Gleason pattern 3). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical in vivo needle‐based OCT of the prostate is feasible with no adverse events during measurements. OCT images displayed detailed prostatic tissue with a imaging depth up to ~1.5 mm. We could co‐register four histological‐proven tissue types with OCT images. The feasibility of in vivo OCT in the prostate opens the pathway to the next phase of needle‐based OCT studies in the prostate. Lasers Surg. Med. 51:390–398, 2019. © 2019 The Authors. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.