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Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center

Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center
  2. Research
  3. Optical Imaging
  4. Intraoperative Assessment of Parathyroid Viability

Intraoperative Assessment of Parathyroid Viability

LSCIPost-surgical hypoparathyroidism and hypocalcemia are known to occur after nearly 50% of all thyroid surgeries as a result of accidental disruption of blood supply to healthy parathyroid glands. These glands are responsible for regulating blood calcium and so damage to them leads to dire consequences like muscle spasms, cardiac arrhythmia and tetany. However, there are currently no clinical methods for accurately identifying compromised glands and the surgeon relies on visual assessment alone to determine if any gland(s) should be excised and auto-transplanted to salvage its function. Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (LSCI) enables real-time assessment of parathyroid viability and we have shown that it is capable of distinguishing between well-vascularized and compromised parathyroid glands during thyroid surgery with an accuracy of 91.5%. It is also capable of detecting parathyroid gland vascular compromise when it may not be visually apparent to the surgeon. Measurements can be performed in real-time and without the need to turn off operating room lights. LSCI shows promise as a real-time, contrast-free, objective method for helping reduce hypoparathyroidism after thyroid surgery.

References

Mannoh, E. A., Thomas, G., Solórzano, C. C. & Mahadevan-Jansen, A. Intraoperative Assessment of Parathyroid Viability using Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging. Sci. Rep. 7, 14798 (2017).