Feasibility of minimally-invasive fiber-based evaluation of chondrodystrophoid canine intervertebral discs by light absorption and scattering spectroscopy

Abstract

Extrusion or protrusion of an intervertebral disc is a common, frequently debilitating, painful, and sometimes fatal neurologic disease in the chondrodystrophic dog (dachshund, Pekingese, etc.). A similar condition of intervertebral disc degeneration with extrusion/protrusion is also a relatively common neurologic condition in human patients. Degeneration of the relatively avascular chondrodystrophoid intervertebral disc is associated with loss of water content, increased collagen, and deposits of calcified mineral in the nucleus pulposus. Current diagnostic methods have many limitations for providing accurate information regarding disc composition in situ prior to surgical intervention. Disc composition (i.e., mineralization), can influence the type of treatment regime and potentially prognosis and recurrence rates. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using a fiber-needle spectroscopy sensor to analyze the changes of tissue compositions involved in the chondrodystrophoid condition of the canine intervertebral disc. The nucleous pulposus, in which the metaplastic process / degeneration develops, is approximately 2mm thick and 5mm in diameter in the dachshund-sized dog. It lies in the center of the disc, surrounded by the annulus fibrosis and is enclosed by cartilaginous vertebral endplates cranially and caudally. This "shallow-and-small-slab" geometry limits the configuration of a fiber probe to sense the disc tissue volume without interference from the vertebrae. A single-fiber sensor is inserted into a 20 gauge myelographic spinal needle for insertion into the disc in situ and connected via a bifurcated fiber to the light source and a spectrometer. A tungsten light source and a 940nm light-emitting-diode are combined for spectral illumination covering VIS/NIR with expected improved sensitivity to water. Analysis of the reflectance spectra is expected to provide information of scattering and absorption compositions of tissue in proximity to the fiber-tip. Preliminary measurements on cadaveric canine intervertebral discs indicated significant reduction of scattering constituents and possible diminishment of water content after percutaneous laser disc ablation (PLDA). This fiber-needle based sensing configuration may be feasible for integrating the evaluation of calcification and water content into the work-flow of holmium:YAG laser disc ablation for pre-operative in-line detection and post-operative evaluation of therapeutic interventions regarding the chondrodystrophic disc.

Biophotonics in veterinary medicine: the first steps toward clinical translation

“…Besides urine, blood samples were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in order to distinguish between healthy dogs, dogs with nonfood-induced canine atopic dermatitis, and dogs with non-allergic inflammation 57 . Additionally, visible and NIR spectroscopy was used for detection of chondrodystrophoid canine intervertebral discs 58 .…”