Optical coherence tomography for broad spectrum of thyroid carcinoma: a qualitative and quantitative analysis

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging modality providing real-time micrometer-scale resolution without conventional tissue processing. This study evaluated the diagnostic potential of OCT for distinguishing normal thyroid tissue from a broad spectrum of thyroid carcinomas in a pathological context. OCT imaging was performed on formalin-fixed thyroid specimens from 41 cases, including papillary (PTC, n = 11), follicular (FTC, n = 6), oncocytic (OCA, n = 3), anaplastic (ATC, n = 9), and medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC, n = 12), with corresponding hematoxylin and eosin sections for correlation. Quantitative parameters were developed or adopted, including surface irregularity, penetration depth, tissue brightness, and gray-level co-occurrence matrix texture features. Qualitative analysis demonstrated visualization of tumor-specific architectural patterns, while three-dimensional reconstruction enabled depth-resolved assessment of capsular invasion and peri-capsular vascular structures. All quantitative metrics significantly differentiated carcinoma from normal tissue and showed discriminative capability across carcinoma subtypes. These findings highlight OCT as a high-resolution, label-free modality with utility in thyroid cancer diagnosis.