Modification of a Laryngoscope for Optical Coherence Tomography

University of California Irvine Department of Otolaryngology Engineering/Physics, 2003-04

Liaison(s): Brian Wong
Advisor(s): Elizabeth Orwin, Robert Wolf
Students(s): Nikhil Gheewala (PM), River Hutchison, Tonya Icenogle, Rachel Lovec

Currently laryngeal cancer can only be diagnosed with biopsies which are invasive, permanently damaging, and can miss cancerous tissue. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique that non-invasively images several millimeters into tissue to seek structural abnormalities, which can indicate cancer. We will design and construct an OCT device for attachment to a laryngoscope that will image two-dimensional cross-sections in the larynx, for the purpose of diagnosing laryngeal cancer in its early stages.