Duke University Researchers Make a Significant Progress in terms of Optical Coherence Tomography

After so many years of being around, the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is yet to find its true advancement and upgrade. The technology still hasn’t reached the level it is supposed to be at in order to provide support at its full potential. 

For now, no one knows the full potential of Optical Coherence Tomography, which is why no one is able to use it at its full potential. However, researchers from around the world have been working to find better uses for the technology and figure out how it can be used more effectively.

This is when Duke University’s biomedical engineers have come up with their research results that are promising for the advancement of the OCT. Until now, the OCT technology has been limited to the eye only, due to its inability of providing a clear image of other body parts. 

The OCT technology is only able to provide a clear image of a millimeter beneath the skin, be it the eye or any other part of the body. However, the researchers at Duke University have come up with a new development that is going to be very promising for OCT practitioners.

According to Duke University researchers, if the light source, as well as the detector used in the OCT method, is tilted, the results can be enhanced. If the method is used, the imaging depth of the OCT can be enhanced. Duke University researchers have claimed that using the method can increase the depth of images in the OCT process by 50%.

It is being considered a remarkable finding by researchers in the field of Optical Coherence Tomography. As per the researchers, the skin diagnoses now seem to be in reach with the help of the new discovery.

The particular discovery, known as the “dual-axis” approach would help the researchers tremendously in spotting and dealing with several cases. At present, some of the major use cases for the dual-axis approach would be for spotting healing progress, assessing burn damage, and skin cancer. Furthermore, the approach will provide tremendous help in terms of guiding surgical procedures.

The researchers from Duke University also talked about their latest discovery. They stated that although it took them time to come up with the discovery, it is a very simple but very effective technique. 

One of the major and most senior researchers working on the particular project was Adam Wax. He simplified the entire process by stating that if the beams are crossed through the particular body part, more power can be generated in the technique. 

Wax claimed that it is a huge development in Optical Coherence Tomography technology. With the help of the new advancement, the practitioners would be able to gain more visibility into the skin. Even if the access is about 1 or 2 millimeters more into the skin, it makes a tremendous difference in the field of OCT.

Wax stated that there are so many things taking place in the 1, 2, or 3-millimeter layers of any skin. Therefore, gaining access and visibility to such depths into the skin would bring a huge change to the OCT process.

The practitioners would gain more visibility and will be able to find out more as to what is taking place 1-2 millimeters deep inside the skin. There may be so many diseases or problems taking place 1 or 2 millimeters deep inside a person’s skin, but it was going unnoticed until now.

With the help of the new development, such cases can be monitored and identified even before they come into full force on a person’s body.

Out of all the cases, the most crucial case that the technology would help tremendously is skin cancer. With the technology, the practitioners can monitor the skin in-depth and find out exactly how a person’s body may react before the skin cancer becomes obvious.