ABSTRACT
Optical coherence elastography (OCE) is a functional extension of optical coherence tomography (OCT). It offers high-resolution elasticity assessment with nanoscale tissue displacement sensitivity and high quantification accuracy, promising to enhance diagnostic precision. However, in vivo endoscopic OCE imaging has not been demonstrated yet, which needs to overcome key challenges related to probe miniaturization, high excitation efficiency and speed. This study presents a novel endoscopic OCE system, achieving the first endoscopic OCE imaging in vivo. The system features the smallest integrated OCE probe with an outer diameter of only 0.9 mm (with a 1.2-mm protective tube during imaging). Utilizing a single 38-MHz high-frequency ultrasound transducer, the system induced rapid deformation in tissues with enhanced excitation efficiency. In phantom studies, the OCE quantification results match well with compression testing results, showing the system's high accuracy. The in vivo imaging of the rat vagina demonstrated the system's capability to detect changes in tissue elasticity continually and distinguish between normal tissue, hematomas, and tissue with increased collagen fibers precisely. This research narrows the gap for the clinical implementation of the endoscopic OCE system, offering the potential for the early diagnosis of intraluminal diseases.