Revealing brain pathologies with multimodal visible light optical coherence microscopy and fluorescence imaging

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Neuroimaging
• Optical Microscopy

Background:

• Current neuroimaging techniques face limitations in providing both morphological and molecular contrast.
• Multimodal imaging offers the potential for enhanced diagnostic capabilities by combining complementary information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a multimodal visible light optical coherence microscopy (OCM) and fluorescence imaging (FI) system.
• To evaluate the system's efficacy in neuroimaging applications, including Alzheimer's disease models and intraoperative brain tumor biopsies.

Main Methods:

• A novel multimodal OCM and FI setup was engineered and validated using phantom measurements.
• Curcumin-stained Alzheimer's disease mouse brain slices were imaged to detect amyloid-beta plaques.
• Intraoperative human brain tumor biopsies were analyzed using OCM for structural information and FI for contrast.

Main Results:

• The OCM channel provided coregistered morphological images of brain tissue, while FI identified curcumin-stained amyloid-beta plaques.
• OCM revealed the 3D structure of brain parenchyma, and FI provided tumor-specific contrast in biopsies.
• Statistically significant differences in attenuation coefficients and fluorescence intensity were observed between 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)-positive and -negative brain tissues, correlating with histopathology.

Conclusions:

• The integrated OCM and FI system offers complementary contrast for neuroimaging applications.
• This multimodal approach shows significant potential for improved diagnostics in Alzheimer's disease and brain tumor characterization.
• The system provides valuable morphological and molecular information, aiding in the identification of pathological features in brain tissues.