Towards automated spectroscopic tissue classification in thyroid and parathyroid surgery

Rutger M. Schols*, Lejla Alic, Fokko P. Wieringa, Nicole D. Bouvy, Laurents P. S. Stassen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

49 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background In (para-) thyroid surgery iatrogenic parathyroid injury should be prevented. To aid the surgeons' eye, a camera system enabling parathyroid-specific image enhancement would be useful. Hyperspectral camera technology might work, provided that the spectral signature of parathyroid tissue offers enough specific features to be reliably and automatically distinguished from surrounding tissues. As a first step to investigate this, we examined the feasibility of wide band diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) for automated spectroscopic tissue classification, using silicon (Si) and indium-gallium-arsenide (InGaAs) sensors.

Methods DRS (350-1830 nm) was performed during (para-) thyroid resections. From the acquired spectra 36 features at predefined wavelengths were extracted. The best features for classification of parathyroid from adipose or thyroid were assessed by binary logistic regression for Si-and InGaAs-sensor ranges. Classification performance was evaluated by leave-one-out cross-validation.

Results In 19 patients 299 spectra were recorded (62 tissue sites: thyroid = 23, parathyroid = 21, adipose = 18). Classification accuracy of parathyroid-adipose was, respectively, 79% (Si), 82% (InGaAs) and 97% (Si/InGaAs combined). Parathyroid-thyroid classification accuracies were 80% (Si), 75% (InGaAs), 82% (Si/InGaAs combined).

Conclusions Si and InGaAs sensors are fairly accurate for automated spectroscopic classification of parathyroid, adipose and thyroid tissues. Combination of both sensor technologies improves accuracy. Follow-up research, aimed towards hyperspectral imaging seems justified. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere1748
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2017

Keywords

  • diffuse reflectance spectroscopy
  • thyroid and parathyroid surgery
  • automated tissue classification
  • parathyroid
  • thyroid
  • adipose tissue
  • DIFFUSE-REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY
  • MINIMALLY INVASIVE PARATHYROIDECTOMY
  • OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY
  • FINE-NEEDLE-ASPIRATION
  • WAVELENGTH RANGE
  • LASER-SURGERY
  • RENAL OXYGENATION
  • DIFFERENTIATION
  • GLANDS
  • NM

Cite this