High resolution imaging of the fibrous microstructure in bovine common carotid artery using optical polarization tractography

Abstract

The biomechanical properties of artery are primarily determined by the fibrous structures in the vessel wall. Many vascular diseases are associated with alternations in the orientation and alignment of the fibrous structure in the arterial wall. Knowledge on the structural features of the artery wall is crucial to our understanding of the biology of vascular diseases and the development of novel therapies. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and polarization-sensitive OCT have shown great promise in imaging blood vessels due to their high resolution, fast acquisition, good imaging depth, and large field of view. However, the feasibility of using OCT based methods for imaging fiber orientation and distribution in the arterial wall has not been investigated. Here we show that the optical polarization tractography (OPT), a technology developed from Jones matrix OCT, can reveal the fiber orientation and alignment in the bovine common carotid artery. The fiber orientation and alignment data obtained in OPT provided a robust contrast marker to clearly resolve the intima and media boundary of the carotid artery wall. Optical polarization tractography can visualize fiber orientation and alignment in carotid artery.

Heart structural remodeling in a mouse model of Duchenne cardiomyopathy revealed using optical polarization tractography [Invited]

“…The ROI size was 0.1 mm × 2.5° (25 × 25 pixels in B × C). The fiber orientation values were obtained using circular averaging within the ROI [10]. Consistent with the global tractography in Fig.…”

“…Optical polarization tractography (OPT) is a newly developed method that can image high-resolution fiber organization in fibrous tissues [8][9][10]. It was based on the Jones matrix implementation of the polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PSOCT).…”

Polarization Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography: A Review of Technology and Applications

“…The Jones matrix approach to PS-OCT also enables the measurement of the optic axis orientation [15,16]. Depth-resolved measurements of the birefringent axis orientation have recently gained interest for mapping the orientation of birefringent fibers in PS-OCT based tractography of collagenous tissue [69,70].…”

“…Dentin is a calcified tissue Information on the birefringent axis orientation provides access to fiber alignment in fibrous tissue (Figure 10a-c) [14]. Tractographic PS-OCT imaging was performed in the walls of blood vessels (Figure 10d-f) and in the mouse heart, thereby revealing fibrous layers with varying fiber orientations [69,70]. In rabbit hearts, the geometry of the perfusion border zone was investigated using PS-OCT and tissue clearing [206], and tissue discrimination was enabled by PS-OCT in rat hearts where decreased birefringence was observed in infarcted hearts [207].…”

Software for Full-Color 3D Reconstruction of the Biological Tissues Internal Structure

“…Different approaches and methods of 3D-visualization of biological tissues are discussed depending on the scientific goals and objectives of practical applications [1,2,14]. A significant number of software complexes, libraries and specialized systems of scientific and technological visualization for three-dimensional digital biomedicine have been developed [7,9,12,24,25].…”