Optical coherence tomography of the living human kidney

Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) induced by ischemia is the most common insult to donor kidneys destined for transplantation. ATN results from swelling and subsequent damage to cells lining the kidney tubules. In this study, we demonstrate the capability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to image the renal microstructures of living human donor kidneys and potentially provide a measure to determine the extent of ATN. We also found that Doppler-based OCT (i.e., DOCT) reveals renal blood flow dynamics that is another major factor which could relate to post-transplant renal function. All OCT/DOCT observations were performed in a noninvasive, sterile and timely manner on intact human kidneys both prior to (ex vivo) and following (in vivo) their transplantation. Our results indicate that this imaging model provides transplant surgeons with an objective visualization of the transplant kidneys prior and immediately post transplantation.