Label-free intraoperative histology of bone tissue via deep-learning-assisted ultraviolet photoacoustic microscopy
Abstract
Obtaining frozen sections of bone tissue for intraoperative examination is challenging. To identify the bony edge of resection, orthopaedic oncologists therefore rely on pre-operative X-ray computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. However, these techniques do not allow for accurate diagnosis or for intraoperative confirmation of the tumour margins, and in bony sarcomas, they can lead to bone margins up to 10-fold wider (1,000-fold volumetrically) than necessary. Here, we show that real-time three-dimensional contour-scanning of tissue via ultraviolet photoacoustic microscopy in reflection mode can be used to intraoperatively evaluate undecalcified and decalcified thick bone specimens, without the need for tissue sectioning. We validate the technique with gold-standard haematoxylin-and-eosin histology images acquired via a traditional optical microscope, and also show that an unsupervised generative adversarial network can virtually stain the ultraviolet-photoacoustic-microscopy images, allowing pathologists to readily identify cancerous features. Label-free and slide-free histology via ultraviolet photoacoustic microscopy may allow for rapid diagnoses of bone-tissue pathologies and aid the intraoperative determination of tumour margins.
Yide Zhang
NIH K99 Postdoctoral Fellow
My research is interdisciplinary and focused on developing new types of optical imaging techniques that could advance the work of other researchers and medical personnel in a wide variety of fields. Currently, I am developing next-generation photoacoustic and ultrafast imaging techniques that can observe biological and physical phenomena that are too fast to be imaged with existing methods. The observation of the ultrafast phenomena could provide a better understanding of the fundamentals of life and physical sciences. I am also developing novel quantum imaging approaches that can investigate biological organisms with an imaging performance that cannot be achieved using classical optical imaging. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, hiking, cycling, and traveling.