Micro-scale assessment of breast cancer elasticity using optical coherence elastography

Optical coherence elastography (OCE) is an imaging technique capable of mapping mechanical properties (such as elasticity) in 3-D and is emerging as a valuable tool in the study and potential intraoperative diagnosis of breast cancer due to mechanical contrast between healthy and malignant tissue. While the correlation between elevated elasticity in OCE and breast cancers has been well established, these studies have primarily focused on binary classifications of tissue as either malignant or benign, ignoring much of the heterogeneity present in breast tissue. In this work, we present a detailed assessment of the microstructures present in human breast tissue images acquired with OCE, identifying regions of interest that corresponded to invasive carcinomas, in situ carcinomas and benign tissue types. We also describe the unique morphological patterns present in each tissue type and provide a framework for the interpretation of breast cancer images acquired with OCE.