Use of high‐resolution full‐field optical coherence tomography and dynamic cell imaging for rapid intraoperative diagnosis during breast cancer surgery

Background Although traditional intraoperative assessments (ie, frozen sections) may lower reoperation rates in patients with breast cancer, time/tissue limitations and accuracy concerns have discouraged their routine clinical use. Full‐field optical coherence tomography (FFOCT) and dynamic cell imaging (DCI) are novel optical imaging techniques offering rapid histologic approximations that are unfettered by requisite handling steps. This study was conducted to determine the feasibility and diagnostic utility of FFOCT and DCI in examining breast and lymph node specimens during breast cancer surgery. Methods FFOCT and DCI were applied to normal and cancerous breast tissue, benign breast lesions, and resected axillary lymph nodes. The tissues were then subjected to conventional processing and staining (hematoxylin‐eosin) for purposes of comparison. Results A total of 314 specimens, including 173 breast biopsies (malignant, 132; benign/normal, 41) and 141 resected lymph nodes (tumor‐positive, 48; tumor‐negative, 93), were obtained from 158 patients during breast surgery for prospective imaging evaluations. In breast cancer diagnosis, the minimum sensitivities (FFOCT, 85.6%; DCI, 88.6%) and specificities of optical imaging (FFOCT, 85.4%; DCI, 95.1%) were high, although they diverged somewhat in nodal assessments (FFOCT sensitivity, 66.7%; FFOCT specificity, 79.6%; DCI sensitivity, 83.3%; DCI specificity, 98.9%). Conclusions These timely and tissue‐sparing optical imaging techniques proved highly accurate in diagnosing breast cancer and nodal metastasis. They compare favorably with routine histologic sections and demonstrate their promise in this setting. Full‐field optical coherence tomography and dynamic cell imaging are highly accurate imaging methods that are comparable to routine postoperative histologic sections in diagnosing breast cancer and nodal metastasis. These optical techniques have shown promise in rapid intraoperative evaluations of breast cancer.