title: Spectral diagnosis of atherosclerosis using an optical fiber laser catheter.
abstract: This communication demonstrates that fluorescence spectra of human aorta with good S/N ratios can be collected using an optical fiber laser catheter. The performance of this catheter is compared to a non-fiber optic collection system with an equivalent delivery/collection geometry. For a given sample, fluorescence lineshapes obtained using the two systems are identical; differences in peak fluorescence intensity are related to the different collection efficiencies of the two systems. It is shown that the fluorescence lineshape of arterial tissue depends on the delivery/collection geometry of the detection system, and that this is due to the interaction of absorption and fluorescence within the artery wall. This effect is investigated systematically using a specially designed collection system. Results are analyzed qualitatively using a simple, one-dimensional model of tissue fluorescence. With this analysis, we present design requirements for a collection system in which such geometric effects are eliminated, and show that our optical fiber laser catheter satisfies these requirements.
authors.affiliation: G.R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Richards-Kortum
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cothren
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kolubayev
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kittrell
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Ratliff
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Feld
mesh_terms: D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers / Q000295:instrumentation; D055100:Optical Fibers; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence