Rathbone Emily, Fu Dan
Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States.
J Phys Chem B. 2024 Jul 25;128(29):6975-6989. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c01277. Epub 2024 Jul 11.
The intimate relationship between neuronal activity and cerebral oxygenation underpins fundamental brain functions like cognition, sensation, and motor control. Optical imaging offers a noninvasive approach to assess brain oxygenation and often serves as an indirect proxy for neuronal activity. However, deciphering neurovascular coupling─the intricate interplay between neuronal activity, blood flow, and oxygen delivery─necessitates independent, high spatial resolution, and high temporal resolution measurements of both microvasculature oxygenation and neuronal activation. This Perspective examines the established optical techniques employed for brain oxygen imaging, specifically functional near-infrared spectroscopy, photoacoustic imaging, optical coherence tomography, and two-photon phosphorescent lifetime microscopy, highlighting their fundamental principles, strengths, and limitations. Several other emerging optical techniques are also introduced. Finally, we discuss key technological challenges and future directions for quantitative optical oxygen imaging, paving the way for a deeper understanding of oxygen metabolism in the brain.
神经元活动与脑氧合之间的密切关系是认知、感觉和运动控制等基本脑功能的基础。光学成像提供了一种评估脑氧合的非侵入性方法，并且常常作为神经元活动的间接替代指标。然而，要解读神经血管耦合——神经元活动、血流和氧气输送之间复杂的相互作用——就需要对微血管氧合和神经元激活进行独立的、高空间分辨率和高时间分辨率的测量。本观点文章审视了用于脑氧成像的既定光学技术，特别是功能近红外光谱、光声成像、光学相干断层扫描和双光子磷光寿命显微镜，突出了它们的基本原理、优势和局限性。还介绍了其他几种新兴的光学技术。最后，我们讨论了定量光学氧成像的关键技术挑战和未来方向，为更深入地理解大脑中的氧代谢铺平道路。
