Prostate Diagnosis using Optical Coherence Tomography

Introduction

With 1.3 million new cases worldwide, prostate cancer (PC) is the second most common cancer in men, causing more than 350,000 deaths each year. It is so common that about 1 man in 8 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.

Importance of Early Diagnosis

As for any degenerative disease, early diagnosis is crucial to improve patients' quality of life and reduce the mortality rate. However, the gold standard technique (biopsy) is affected by large diagnostic errors, representing a major limitation to achieve adequate management of PC.

Project Overview

The PROCT project aims to validate in the pre-clinical stage a semiautonomous robotic approach to PC diagnosis based on Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This approach aims to:

• Exactly pinpoint the target lesion
• Analyse it through an AI and robotic-based imaging setup

This can comprehensively visualize the lesions at the microscopic level in vivo, without taking any physical sample of the prostate. The resulting virtual microscope slide will allow urologists to explore and analyse various suspicious areas in the same procedure without the need to rely on the physical examination of the biopsy samples.

Paradigm Shift in Diagnosis

PROCT represents a paradigm shift in PC biopsy, poised to turn a subjective and operator-dependent procedure into a safer and more accurate diagnostic tool. This solution is obtained by merging:

1. AI-based target identification
2. Robotic pointing developed in the previous PoC project PROST
3. A micro-optical coherence tomography sensor capable of acquiring images of the prostate through a needle at cellular-level resolution

Validation and Testing

The PROCT prototype will be laboratory validated and benchmarked to assess its usability and real-time capabilities. It will also be tested and validated on ex-vivo animal tissues and in the cadaver laboratory.