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Published on: October 4, 2021
Optical imaging of vascular pathophysiology
1Molecular imaging group, Dept. of Experimental Neurology, Center for Stroke Research Berlin (CSB), Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10098, Berlin, Germany. andreas.wunder@charite.de
Insights
Optical imaging offers new ways to visualize vascular diseases like atherosclerosis. These techniques help researchers understand and track the biological processes underlying conditions such as heart attack and stroke.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical imaging
- Vascular biology
- Pathophysiology
Background:
- Vascular system pathologies are leading causes of mortality and disease.
- Atherosclerosis, an arterial wall inflammatory process, can lead to plaque rupture, thrombosis, ischemia, and tissue death.
- Effective visualization of these pathological processes is crucial for understanding and treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of optical imaging techniques for visualizing vascular pathophysiology.
- To highlight the application of fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging in this field.
Main Methods:
- Review of optical imaging techniques.
- Discussion of reporter agents and systems for molecular imaging.
- Focus on fluorescence imaging and bioluminescence imaging.
Main Results:
- Optical imaging techniques, including fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging, offer promising methods for visualizing vascular pathophysiology.
- These methods complement established modalities like PET, SPECT, MRI, and ultrasound.
Conclusions:
- Optical imaging provides valuable tools for studying the biological processes in vascular diseases.
- Further development and application of these techniques can advance our understanding and management of atherosclerosis and its complications.
Abstract:
Pathophysiological processes in the vascular system are the major cause of mortality and disease. Atherosclerosis, an inflammatory process in arterial walls, can lead to formation of plaques, whose rupture can lead to thrombus formation, obstruction of vessels (thrombosis), reduction of the blood flow (ischemia), cell death in the tissue fed by the occluded vessel, and depending on the affected vessel, to myocardial infarction or stroke. Imaging techniques enabling visualization of the biological processes involved in this scenario are therefore highly desirable. In recent years, a number of reporter agents and reporter systems have been developed to visualize these processes using different imaging modalities including nuclear imaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography or single photon emission computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound. This article comprises a brief overview of optical imaging techniques, such as fluorescence imaging and bioluminescence imaging for the visualization of vascular pathophysiology.
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