Characterizing subepithelial remodeling in eosinophilic esophagitis with PS-μOCT

Eosiophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an inflammatory disease of the esophagus, with long-term EoE causing fibrotic and hypertrophic restructuring of the sub-epithelial wall. We have developed a polarization-sensitive micro-optical coherence tomography (PS-µOCT) imaging device for its characterization. This device was used to quantify collagen at 15 sites on each of 5 swine esophagi, with results compared to histology. A linear mixed model with random intercept showed significant agreement between OCT and histology (slope = 0.41, 95% CI [0.22, 0.60], t(67) = 4.30, p = 5.8 x 10-5). This validates our technology and will allow longitudinal assessment of patient response to drug and diet, without endoscopic biopsy.