In this pilot study, we tested an ultrasound-guided optoacoustic tomography (US-OT) two-dimensional (2D) array scanner to understand the optoacoustic patterns of excised breastconserving surgery (BCS) specimens. We imaged 14 BCS specimens containing malignant tumors at eight wavelengths spanning 700−1100 nm. Spectral unmixing across multiple wavelengths allowed for visualizing major intrinsic chromophores in the breast tissue including hemoglobin and lipid up to a depth of 7 mm. We identified less/no lipid signals within the tumor and intense deoxy-hemoglobin (Hb) signals on the rim of the tumor as unique characteristics of malignant tumors in comparison to no tumor region. We also observed continuous broad lipid signals as features of negative margins and compromised lipid signals interrupted by vasculature as features of positive margins. These differentiating patterns can form the basis of US-OT to be explored as an alternate, fast and efficient intraoperative method for evaluation of tumor resection margins.

在这项初步研究中，我们测试了超声引导的光声断层扫描（US-OT）二维（2D）阵列扫描仪，以了解切除的保乳手术（BCS）标本的光声模式。我们对14个包含恶性肿瘤的BCS标本进行了成像，这些标本在跨越700-1100 nm的八个波长处成像。跨多个波长的光谱解混可以观察到乳腺组织中主要的固有发色团，包括血红蛋白和脂质，深度可达7毫米。与没有肿瘤区域相比，我们确定了肿瘤内较少/没有脂质信号和肿瘤边缘上的强烈脱氧血红蛋白（Hb）信号是恶性肿瘤的独特特征。我们还观察到连续的广泛脂质信号为负切缘特征，受损的脂质信号被脉管系统打断为正切缘特征。