Abstract: Organoids provide powerful models for human development and disease, yet their growth, differentiation, and function are strongly influenced by mechanical cues that remain difficult to measure non-invasively. Understanding organoids mechanobiology requires methods that can quantify elasticity with high spatial resolution, longitudinal stability, and minimal perturbation. Here, we introduce an optical coherence elastography (OCE) platform based on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography that integrates controlled piezoelectric excitation with nanoscale, phase-resolved detection of elastic wave propagation. This system enables quantitative, non-destructive estimation of elastic modulus in soft tissues. Validation experiments using agar phantoms showed excellent agreement between the measured Young’s moduli and theoretical predictions, confirming accuracy and reproducibility. In heterogeneous agar phantoms, OCE resolved spatial stiffness variations, demonstrating sensitivity to microscale heterogeneity. By enabling long-term, non-invasive monitoring of evolving mechanical properties, this approach establishes a foundation for integrating elasticity measurements with multimodal imaging to advance mechanobiological studies of organoid development.

Jinyuan Liu, Mohan Yang, Yi Wang, Ronald X. Xu, and Mingzhai Sun "Quantitative optical coherence elastography for mechanobiology of organoids", Proc. SPIE 14000, Fifth International Computational Imaging Conference (CITA 2025), 1400011 (9 January 2026); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3091077