Fluorescence imaging to quantify the fluorescent microspheres in cardiac tissue
Eugene Gussakovsky1, Bozena Kuzio, Yanmin Yang
1National Research Council Institute for Biodiagnostics, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B1Y6 Canada. eugene.gussakovsky@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Abstract:
To quantify the fluorescent microsphere (FM) content in cardiac tissue, which is an indicative of blood flow, fluorescence imaging of both sides of the pig heart slice was employed. Despite the light scattering inside the tissue and contributions from multiple tissue layers to the total emission, it is shown that the fluorescence intensity at any pixel is proportional to the FM content and the fluorescence image may be transformed to the image of the FM concentration. A convenient standard for the emission-FM concentration transformation is proposed. The approach has several advantages in comparison with the traditional "digestion & extraction" method such as: non-destructiveness, high spatial resolution, high throughput, repeatability and simplicity of operation.
Insights
This study introduces a non-destructive fluorescence imaging method to quantify fluorescent microsphere content in cardiac tissue, offering a simpler and more accurate assessment of blood flow compared to traditional techniques.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Medical Imaging
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Quantifying blood flow in cardiac tissue is crucial for diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases.
- Traditional methods for assessing blood flow, like digestion and extraction, are destructive and lack spatial resolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a non-destructive fluorescence imaging technique for quantifying fluorescent microsphere (FM) content in cardiac tissue.
- To establish a method for transforming fluorescence intensity into FM concentration for accurate blood flow assessment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized fluorescence imaging on both sides of pig heart slices to capture FM distribution.
- Developed a standard for converting fluorescence emission to FM concentration, accounting for light scattering and tissue contributions.
- Compared the novel method with traditional digestion and extraction techniques.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that fluorescence intensity at any pixel is directly proportional to FM content, enabling accurate quantification.
- Showcased the transformation of fluorescence images into FM concentration maps.
- The proposed method offers non-destructiveness, high spatial resolution, high throughput, repeatability, and operational simplicity.
Conclusions:
- Fluorescence imaging provides a reliable and advantageous alternative for quantifying FM content in cardiac tissue.
- This technique offers significant improvements over conventional methods for blood flow assessment in cardiovascular research.
