A Novel OCT Image-Guided Laser Automatic Ablation Method Based on Non-common Optical Path Structure

During tumor resection, the boundaries of some types of tumors are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. Doctors also face problems with tissue deformation and avoidance of important blood vessels and nerves. Although optical biopsy provides a rapid intraoperative diagnosis method, how to effectively combine with laser ablation and other treatment methods to achieve accurate ablation or resection of tumor tissue still faces great challenges. Therefore, we designed a theranostics system with non-common optical path structure and an intelligent control method. By fixing the front-end of optical coherence tomography (OCT) sample arm with the high power laser probe, and intelligently driving the micromirror to control high power laser spot based on the diagnosis result of OCT image, the system can excise the tumorous tissues with high precision. We verified the feasibility of the system and method on the ex vivo porcine brainstem model. The experimental results showed that the system can sensitively recognize and quickly ablate lesions in real time. The diagnostic and planning process takes 26 s. The ablation precision can reach millimeter order. The theoretical removal rate of light spot planning method is about 90%. The ablation cavity’s position error is about 0.15 mm.