PS-OCT supplies increased decision and distinction pictures than MRI, as demonstrated in three widespread DBS targets: the subthalamic nucleus (proper), the caudate nucleus (heart), and the globus pallidus (left). Credit score: Neurophotonics (2025). DOI: 10.1117/1.NPh.12.3.035001
Deep mind stimulation (DBS) is a extensively used surgical therapy for neurological issues similar to Parkinson’s illness, important tremor, and obsessive–compulsive dysfunction. The process includes implanting electrodes into particular mind areas to control irregular exercise.
Success relies upon closely on putting these electrodes with millimeter-level accuracy. Nonetheless, present imaging instruments like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) usually fall wanting clearly figuring out small, deep mind constructions, making exact focusing on troublesome.
A current examine printed in Neurophotonics explores a promising answer: catheter-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT).
PS-OCT is an optical imaging approach that makes use of polarized gentle to detect delicate structural variations in tissue. Not like MRI, which supplies millimeter-scale decision, PS-OCT can visualize mind constructions on the micrometer degree. This enables it to detect effective particulars in white matter fiber tracts—bundles of nerve fibers which can be essential landmarks for DBS focusing on.
The examine, carried out by researchers from Laval College (Canada) and Harvard Medical College (U.S.), examined PS-OCT in a postmortem animal mannequin, evaluating its efficiency with MRI in visualizing three widespread DBS targets.
To simulate a DBS process, researchers inserted a PS-OCT probe into the mind alongside deliberate trajectories. The probe collected information because it was pulled again by means of the tissue, capturing high-resolution pictures of the mind’s inside construction. These pictures had been then matched with MRI scans and anatomical references to evaluate accuracy. The PS-OCT system used a rotating catheter with a tiny lens and prism to direct gentle into the tissue, measuring how the sunshine’s polarization modified because it handed by means of totally different constructions. This variation, often called birefringence, displays the alignment and density of fibers in white matter.
The outcomes confirmed that PS-OCT may distinguish between white and grey matter extra clearly than MRI. It additionally revealed effective fiber constructions that MRI missed, similar to the interior capsule—a dense bundle of fibers essential for DBS planning. In a single case, PS-OCT recognized extremely organized fiber tracts close to the GPe that had been invisible in MRI scans. These findings counsel that PS-OCT may present surgeons with intraoperative suggestions throughout DBS procedures, enhancing accuracy and lowering the chance of misplacement.
To match the 2 imaging strategies, the staff used a simplified segmentation strategy. They averaged information alongside the probe path and utilized clustering to separate tissue varieties. This allowed them to create “tissue barcodes” exhibiting transitions between white and grey matter. PS-OCT produced sharper and extra constant barcodes than MRI, highlighting its potential for guiding electrode placement.
Whereas PS-OCT presents clear benefits, it presently measures fiber orientation solely in two dimensions. Future enhancements may allow full 3D mapping, additional enhancing its usefulness. The researchers additionally famous that the PS-OCT probe used within the examine was barely bigger than normal DBS electrodes, however smaller probes are already accessible and may very well be tailored for medical use.
Corresponding creator Shadi Masoumi of Laval College remarked, “Catheter-based PS-OCT shows strong promise as a tool complementary to MRI in DBS neurosurgery. By providing high-resolution structural information and visualizing critical fiber pathways, it could help surgeons target brain regions more precisely.”
Subsequent steps embrace reside testing, integration into surgical workflows, and direct comparisons with diffusion MRI, one other approach used to map mind fibers. If profitable, PS-OCT may turn out to be a invaluable addition to the neurosurgical toolkit, enhancing outcomes for sufferers present process DBS.
Extra info:
Shadi Masoumi et al, Catheter-based polarimetric imaging to enhance MRI for deep mind stimulation neurosurgery, Neurophotonics (2025). DOI: 10.1117/1.NPh.12.3.035001
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Polarized gentle imaging enhances accuracy of deep mind stimulation (2025, July 29)
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