Qualitative and quantitative assessment of ex vivo human brain tumors using quantitative oblique back-illumination microscopy (qOBM)

Biomedical Optics Express 2026 Open access

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Authors: Srinidhi Bharadwaj, Paloma Casteleiro Costa, Caroline Filan, Brienna Heinsz, Alice Hsu, Nischita Kaza, Zhe Guang, Zhenmin Li, Jeffrey J. Olson, Kimberly Hoang, Stewart Neill, Francisco E. Robles
DOI: 10.1364/boe.596635
Cited by: 2
References: 57

Abstract

Accurate intraoperative diagnosis of brain tumors is critical for improving patient outcomes, yet current histopathology is time-consuming and performed outside the operating room. We investigate the use of quantitative oblique back-illumination microscopy (qOBM) for the identification and classification of tumors in brain tumor core samples ex vivo . We studied samples from 28 patients across four tumor types and identified diagnostic features in qOBM images corroborated by H&E. Using samples from 19 glioma patients, a leave-one-out classifier distinguishes high- from low-grade glioma cases with 86.6% accuracy (95% CI: 85.9-87.4%), demonstrating qOBM’s potential for real-time intraoperative diagnosis in future studies.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques Cell Image Analysis Techniques Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications

Publication details

Journal / source
Biomedical Optics Express
Publisher
Optica Publishing Group
Volume
17
Issue
4
Pages
1936–1936
Publication date
16 March 2026
Language
EN