title: Non-linear imaging and characterization of atherosclerotic arterial tissue using combined SHG and FLIM microscopy.
abstract: Atherosclerosis is one of the leading causes of death in the Western World and its characterization is extremely interesting from the diagnostic point of view. Here, we employed combined SHG-FLIM microscopy to characterize arterial tissue with atherosclerosis. The shorter mean fluorescence lifetime measured within plaque depositions (1260 ± 80 ps) with respect to normal arterial wall (1480 ± 100 ps) allowed discriminating collagen from lipids. SHG measurements and image analysis demonstrated that the normal arterial wall has a more anisotropic Aspect Ratio (0.37 ± 0.02) with respect to plaque depositions (0.61 ± 0.02) and that the correlation length can be used for discriminating collagen fibre bundles (2.0 ± 0.6 µm) from cholesterol depositions (4.1 ± 0.6 µm). The presented method has the potential to find place in a clinical setting as well as to be applied in vivo in the near future. Graphic composition of SHG and FLIM images representing normal arterial wall and plaque depositions.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Optics, National Research Council (INO-CNR), Largo E. Fermi 6, 50125, Florence, Italy; European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS), Via Nello Carrara 1, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy. riccardo.cicchi@ino.it.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cicchi
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baria
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matthäus
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lattermann
authors.forename: Bernhard R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Brehm
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Popp
authors.forename: Francesco Saverio
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Pavone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D061848:Optical Imaging; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen
keywords: FLIM microscopy; SHG microscopy; atherosclerosis