Deal Joshua, McFarland Stuart J, Robinson Anna, Alford Anna, Weber David S, Rich Thomas C, Leavesley Silas J
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of South Alabama.
Center for Lung Biology, University of South Alabama.
Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng. 2019 Feb;10890. doi: 10.1117/12.2510770. Epub 2019 Mar 4.
Coronary artery disease (CAD), or atherosclerosis, is responsible for nearly a third of all American deaths annually. Detection of plaques and differentiation of plaque stage remains a complicating factor for treatment. Classification of plaque before significant blockage or rupture could inform clinical decisions and prevent mortality. Current detection methods are either nonspecific, slow, or require the use of potentially harmful contrast agents. Recent advances in hyperspectral imaging could be used to detect changes in the autofluorescence of arteries associated with vessel remodeling and subsequent plaque formation and could detect and classify existing lesions. Here, we present data comparing spectral image characteristics of a mouse model designed to undergo vessel remodeling. C57Bl/6 mice underwent ligation of three of four caudal branches of the left common carotid artery (left external carotid, internal carotid, and occipital artery) with the superior thyroid artery left intact under IACUC approved protocol. Vessels were harvested at a variety of timepoints to compare degrees of remodeling, including 4 weeks and 5 months post-surgery. Immediately following harvest, vessels were prepared by longitudinal opening to expose the luminal surface to a 20X objective. A custom inverted microscope (TE-2000, Nikon Instruments) with a Xe arc lamp and thin film tunable filter arrary (Versachrome, Semrock, Inc.) were used to achieve spectral imaging. Excitation scans utilized wavelengths between 340 nm and 550 nm in 5 nm increments. Hyperspectral data were generated and analyzed with custom Matlab scripts and visualized in ENVI. Preliminary data suggest consistent spectral features associated with control and remodeled vessels.
冠状动脉疾病（CAD），即动脉粥样硬化，每年导致近三分之一的美国人死亡。斑块的检测和斑块阶段的区分仍然是治疗的一个复杂因素。在显著堵塞或破裂之前对斑块进行分类可以为临床决策提供依据并预防死亡。当前的检测方法要么是非特异性的、缓慢的，要么需要使用潜在有害的造影剂。高光谱成像的最新进展可用于检测与血管重塑及随后斑块形成相关的动脉自发荧光变化，并可检测和分类现有病变。在此，我们展示了比较旨在进行血管重塑的小鼠模型光谱图像特征的数据。在IACUC批准的方案下，C57Bl/6小鼠的左颈总动脉的四个尾部分支中的三个（左颈外动脉、颈内动脉和枕动脉）进行结扎，保留甲状腺上动脉完整。在多个时间点采集血管以比较重塑程度，包括手术后4周和5个月。采集后立即将血管纵向打开，将管腔表面暴露于20倍物镜下进行制备。使用配备氙弧灯和薄膜可调滤光片阵列（Versachrome，Semrock公司）的定制倒置显微镜（TE - 2000，尼康仪器）进行光谱成像。激发扫描使用340纳米至550纳米之间以5纳米递增的波长。利用定制的Matlab脚本生成和分析高光谱数据，并在ENVI中进行可视化。初步数据表明与对照血管和重塑血管相关的一致光谱特征。
