Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
School of Physical Electronics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
J Biophotonics. 2020 May;13(5):e201960161. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201960161. Epub 2020 Feb 13.
Prenatal ethanol exposure (PEE) can lead to structural and functional abnormalities in fetal brain. Although neural developmental deficits due to PEE have been recognized, the immediate effects of PEE on fetal brain vasculature and hemodynamics remain poorly understood. One of the major obstacles that preclude the rapid advancement of studies on fetal vascular dynamics is the limitation of the imaging techniques. Thus, a technique for noninvasive in-vivo imaging of fetal vasculature and hemodynamics is desirable. In this study, we explored the dynamic changes of the vessel dimeter, density and oxygen saturation in fetal brain after acute maternal ethanol exposure in the second-trimester equivalent murine model using a real-time photoacoustic tomography system we developed for imaging embryo of small animals. The results indicate a significant decrease in fetal brain vessel diameter, perfusion and oxygen saturation. This work demonstrated that PAT can provide high-resolution noninvasive imaging ability to monitor fetal vascular dynamics.
产前乙醇暴露（PEE）可导致胎儿大脑结构和功能异常。尽管由于 PEE 导致的神经发育缺陷已得到公认，但 PEE 对胎儿大脑血管和血液动力学的直接影响仍知之甚少。限制胎儿血管动力学研究快速进展的主要障碍之一是成像技术的局限性。因此，需要一种用于非侵入性体内胎儿血管和血液动力学成像的技术。在这项研究中，我们使用我们为小动物胚胎成像开发的实时光声断层扫描系统，在相当于妊娠中期的第二阶段的小鼠模型中，探索了急性母体乙醇暴露后胎儿大脑血管直径、密度和氧饱和度的动态变化。结果表明胎儿大脑血管直径、灌注和氧饱和度显著降低。这项工作表明，PAT 可以提供高分辨率的非侵入性成像能力来监测胎儿血管动力学。
