Characterization of atherosclerotic arterial tissue using multimodal non-linear optical microscopy

Year: 2013

Authors: Cicchi R., Matthaeus C., Meyer T., Lattermann A., Dietzek B., Brehm BR., Popp J., Pavone FS.

Autors Affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Research Council (INO-CNR), Largo E. Fermi 6 – 50125, Florence, Italy;

European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Via Nello Carrara, 1 – 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy;

Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT-Jena), Albert Einstein Straße 9, 07745 Jena, Germany;

Institute of Pathology, Department of Neuropathology, Jena University Hospital – Friedrich-Schiller-University, Erlanger Allee 101, 07740 Jena, Germany;

Catholic Clinic – Koblenz, Internal Medicine & Cardiology, Rudolf Virchow Str. 9, 56073 Koblenz, Germany;

Institute of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics– Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Helmholtzweg 4, 07743 Jena, Germany;

Department of Physics, University of Florence, Via Giovanni Sansone 1 – 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy;

Abstract: Atherosclerosis is among the most widespread cardiovascular diseases and one of the leading cause of death in the Western World. Characterization of arterial tissue in atherosclerotic condition is extremely interesting from the diagnostic point of view. Routinely used diagnostic methods, such as histopathological examination, are limited to morphological analysis of the examined tissues, whereas an exhaustive characterization requires a morpho-functional approach. Non-linear microscopy techniques have the potential to bridge this gap by providing morpho-functional information in a label-free way. Here we employed multiple non-linear microscopy techniques, including CARS, TPF, and SHG to provide intrinsic optical contrast from various tissue components in both arterial wall and atherosclerotic plaques. CARS and TPF microscopy were used to respectively image lipid depositions within plaques and elastin in the arterial wall. Cholesterol deposition in the lumen and collagen in the arterial wall were selectively imaged by SHG microscopy and distinguished by forward-backward SHG ratio. Image pattern analysis allowed characterizing collagen organization in different tissue regions. The presented method has the potential to find a stable place in clinical setting as well as to be applied in vivo in the near future.

Conference title: European Conference on Biomedical Optics – ECBO 2013
Place: Munich, Germany

KeyWords: Cardio-vascular disease; Histopathological examinations; Intrinsic optical contrasts; Morphological analysis; Nonlinear microscopy; Nonlinear optical microscopy; Scanning microscopy; Tissue characterization, Characterization; Coherent scattering; Collagen; Deposition; Diseases; Optical microscopy, Tissue
DOI: 10.1117/12.2030879