arXiv:2608.13807physics.opticscs.CV2026-08

无需染色或开刀,用OCT技术在深层组织中实时定位神经。

Label-Free Deep-Tissue Peripheral Nerve Detection with a Handheld Multimodal OCT Probe and NerveDetNet

论文配图:Label-Free Deep-Tissue Peripheral Nerve Detection with a Handheld Multimodal OCT Probe and NerveDetNet
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 结合多模态OCT探头与轻量级神经网络,仅靠结构光强信号检测神经。
  • 在最稀疏采样下仍达0.725的分割精度,参数量减半。
  • 适合手术导航,可深度分辨1.3–1.4mm以下神经,无需造影剂。

埋藏于完整组织下的外周神经在术中难以可视化,现有OCT研究多依赖暴露神经或偏振对比,穿透深度有限。本文提出首个无需标记的深层神经检测框架,仅基于强度型OCT结构特征实现深度分辨。系统集成手持式多模态探头(含扫频OCT、共配准白光与自体荧光成像),采用“确认-捕获”工作流程以适配临床手术。为高效处理稀疏采样的OCT体积,开发了轻量级2.5D分割网络NerveDetNet,通过专用神经特征相关模块融合空间上下文、帧序信息与跨帧平移容错关联,恢复弱且分散的神经信号。离体实验中,NerveDetNet在所有帧间距条件下均优于六种代表性2D基线模型,在最稀疏采样下仍取得0.725的Dice分数,参数量约减少一半。端到端验证显示,可定位表面不可见神经,并实现1.3–1.4 mm深度范围内的精确检测,将OCT深度图直接叠加至手术视野。结果表明,该方法具备术中兼容性,支持高效稀疏体积分析,无需开刀、造影剂或神经暴露即可提供深度引导。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Peripheral nerves buried beneath intact tissue are difficult to visualize during surgery and remain inaccessible to white light wide-field imaging and other surface optical imaging methods. Existing OCT nerve studies have largely relied on exposed nerves or polarization contrast with limited depth penetration, restricting their value for subsurface intraoperative guidance. Here, we introduce, to our knowledge, the first label-free framework for detecting peripheral nerves beneath unopened tissue and resolving their depth using intensity-based OCT structural signatures alone. The framework combines a handheld multimodal probe, integrating swept-source OCT with co-registered white light and autofluorescence imaging, with a ``confirm-then-capture'' workflow designed for practical surgical use. To enable efficient analysis of sparsely sampled OCT volumes, we develop NerveDetNet, a lightweight 2.5D segmentation network that recovers weak and spatially displaced nerve signals by incorporating spatial context, frame-order information, and shift-tolerant correlations across frames through a dedicated nerve feature correlation module. In ex vivo tissue experiments, NerveDetNet consistently outperformed six representative 2D baselines across all frame spacings, achieving a Dice score of 0.725 under the sparsest sampling condition while using approximately half the model parameters. End-to-end validation demonstrated localization of nerves invisible at the surface and depth-resolved detection up to 1.3--1.4~mm below the tissue surface, with OCT derived depth maps overlaid directly onto the surgical view. Together, these results establish a practical label-free approach for subsurface nerve visualization that supports intraoperative compatibility, enables efficient sparse-volume analysis, and provides depth-resolved guidance without tissue opening, contrast agents, or nerve exposure.

神经检测OCT成像手术导航深度感知

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