Optical fiber probe for prostate cancer screening: ex vivo study

We developed a miniaturized optical probe, based on a customized Fiber Bragg Grating, for mechanical characterization of biological tissues with sub-millimeter spatial resolution. The probe is integrated inside a metallic cannula (16 gauge) used for clinical applications, and it is driven by a robotic arm (KUKA LBR Med 7). The optical sensor has a resolution of less than 1 mN and measures the force on controlled tissue indentations. The functionality of the sensor was assessed by means of different tests carried out on real prostates obtained from radically surgeries of patients at different stages of the carcinoma (Gleason score from 6 to 8). Specifically, in this work, we demonstrate that our system provides results that are on line with to the biopsy analysis performed before and the surgery. Our findings lay the foundation for the development of compact optical fiber probes, with size compatible with needle/catheter, able to perform in vivo mechanical characterizations of the prostatic tissue with high sensitivity and spatial resolution.