3D Visualization and Identification of Rat Brain Structures using Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful, real-time technique for investigating depth structure of biomedical tissue. Since entering the field of medical imaging it has been well established for imaging purposes in certain medical disciplines e.g. ophthalmology and dermatology. Major advantages are the high resolution, the video-rate scanning capability, and the non-invasive nature of OCT-imaging. Recent research results show the applicability of OCT to image brain morphology ex vivo and in vitro. OCT therefore presents a novel imaging modality in neuronavigation applications e.g. intraoperative path validation for instrument guidance. This contribution examines 2D-OCT scans of coronal sectioned rat brain in order to identify different brain regions and provides a 3D reconstruction for better visualization of OCT images.