Compression Optical Coherence Elastography for Assessing Elasticity of the Vaginal Wall under Prolapse after Neodymium Laser Treatment
Ekaterina Gubarkova,
Arseniy Potapov,
Darya Krupinova,
Ksenia Shatilova,
Maria Karabut,
Andrey Khlopkov,
Maria Loginova,
Aleksander Sovetsky,
Vladimir Zaitsev,
Stefka Radenska-Lopovok,
Natalia Gladkova,
Gennady Grechkanev,
Marina Sirotkina
Affiliations
Ekaterina Gubarkova
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Arseniy Potapov
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Darya Krupinova
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Ksenia Shatilova
“MeLSyTech” Ltd., 11D Igumnovskoe Shosse, 603901 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Maria Karabut
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Andrey Khlopkov
“MeLSyTech” Ltd., 11D Igumnovskoe Shosse, 603901 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Maria Loginova
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Aleksander Sovetsky
Institute of Applied Physics of the RAS, 46 Ulyanova St., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Vladimir Zaitsev
Institute of Applied Physics of the RAS, 46 Ulyanova St., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Stefka Radenska-Lopovok
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Natalia Gladkova
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Gennady Grechkanev
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Marina Sirotkina
Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, 10/1 Minin and Pozharsky Sq., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Early stages of pelvic organ prolapses are mainly associated with the pelvic floor disfunction as a result of elasticity changes in the connective tissues including the vaginal wall. In this study, for the first time we used a compression optical coherence elastography (C-OCE) method for assessing elasticity of the vaginal wall under prolapse conditions after intravaginal neodymium (Nd:YAG) laser treatment. C-OCE was used for a comparative ex vivo study of vaginal wall average values of stiffness (elastic Young’s modulus) in patients with age norm (n = 6), stage I–II prolapse (n = 5) without treatment and stage I–II prolapse post 1–2 months Nd:YAG laser treatment (n = 10). To verify the C-OCE data, the structural features of the submucosal connective tissue were identified morphometrically by Van Gieson staining using quantitative textural analysis of the state of collagen bundles. The results of a comparative evaluation of C-OCE and histological images demonstrate a statistically significant tissue stiffness decrease in vaginal wall prolapse compared to the age norm (73.5 ± 18.9 kPa vs. 233.5 ± 48.3 kPa; p p < 0.05), which was associated with an increase in the local thickness of the collagen bundles, a change in their orientation, and an increase in the uniformity of their arrangement. The obtained results indicate that the C-OCE can be a robust method for detecting the early stages of vaginal wall prolapse and assessing the elastic modulus increase in the vaginal wall after laser treatment.
