Bacskai Brian J, Hyman Bradley T
Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown 02129, USA.
Neuroscientist. 2002 Oct;8(5):386-90. doi: 10.1177/107385802236963.
A definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease depends on postmortem analysis of brain tissue bearing the pathological hallmarks of the disease: plaques and tangles. Imaging techniques that allow visualization and characterization of these lesions in living animals permit a better understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease as well as paradigms for preventing or reversing the deposits. Multiphoton microscopy uses near infrared light that is benign to living tissue and penetrates more deeply than visible or UV light, permitting high-resolution imaging of these microscopic structures deep within the cortex of living transgenic mice over time. This in vivo imaging approach allows direct examination of the natural history of plaques and evaluation of antiplaque therapeutics in mouse models of the disease.
阿尔茨海默病的确切诊断取决于对具有该疾病病理特征（斑块和缠结）的脑组织进行尸检分析。能够在活体动物中可视化并表征这些病变的成像技术，有助于更好地理解该疾病的发病机制以及预防或逆转沉积物的范例。多光子显微镜使用对活体组织无害的近红外光，其穿透深度比可见光或紫外光更深，能够随着时间推移对活体转基因小鼠皮质深处的这些微观结构进行高分辨率成像。这种体内成像方法可以直接观察斑块的自然病程，并在该疾病的小鼠模型中评估抗斑块疗法。
