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Author Spotlight: In Vivo Assessment of Thyroid Hormone Disruption Using the THAI Mouse Model
Published on: October 6, 2023
Broadband (550-1350 nm) diffuse optical characterization of thyroid chromophores
Sanathana Konugolu Venkata Sekar1, Andrea Farina2, Alberto Dalla Mora3
1Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Fisica, Milano, Italy. sanathana.konugolu@polimi.it.
Abstract:
Thyroid plays an important role in the endocrine system of the human body. Its characterization by diffuse optics can open new path ways in the non-invasive diagnosis of thyroid pathologies. Yet, the absorption spectra of tyrosine and thyroglobulin-key tissue constituents specific to the thyroid organ-in the visible to near infrared range are not fully available. Here, we present the optical characterization of tyrosine (powder), thyroglobulin (granular form) and iodine (aqueous solution) using a time domain broadband diffuse optical spectrometer in the 550-1350 nm range. Various systematic errors caused by physics of photo migration and sample inherent properties were effectively suppressed by means of advanced time domain diffuse optical methods. A brief comparison with various other known tissue constituents is presented, which reveals key spectral regions for the quantification of the thyroid absorbers in an in vivo scenario.
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