Polarized light based birefringence measurements for monitoring myocardial regeneration

Michael F. G. Wood; Nirmalya Ghosh; Shu-Hong Li; Richard D. Weisel; Brian C. Wilson; Ren-Ke Li; I. Alex Vitkin

doi:10.1117/12.809151

12 February 2009 Polarized light based birefringence measurements for monitoring myocardial regeneration

Michael F. G. Wood, Nirmalya Ghosh, Shu-Hong Li, Richard D. Weisel, Brian C. Wilson, Ren-Ke Li, I. Alex Vitkin

Proceedings Volume 7179, Optics in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine III; 717908 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.809151
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2009, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Myocardial infarction leads to remodeling of the myocardium, resulting in a deterioration of cardiac function. This remodeling involves changes in the extracellular matrix, particularly an increase in collagen. Recently developed stem cell based regenerative treatments have been shown to reduce myocardial remodeling and collagen formation after infarction leading to an improvement in overall cardiac function. However, this emerging field is in dire need of biomarkers to monitor the progress and success of these treatments. Collagen is a fibrous protein and exhibits birefringence due to different refractive indices parallel and perpendicular to the direction of the fibers. As a result, changes in the collagen content and organization in the myocardium should lead to changes in birefringence. Birefringence measurements were made through ex vivo myocardial tissues from rats with induced myocardial infarctions including a number that had undergone regenerative treatment with mesenchymal stem cells. Results show a decrease in birefringence from normal to infracted myocardium, indicating a decrease in tissue organization associated with scar formation, however, an increase in birefringence was seen in those myocardial tissues that had undergone regenerative treatment indicating reorganization of tissue structure. These results demonstrate promise for this technique and are motivating further work towards performing measurements in vivo.

Citation Download Citation

Michael F. G. Wood, Nirmalya Ghosh, Shu-Hong Li, Richard D. Weisel, Brian C. Wilson, Ren-Ke Li, and I. Alex Vitkin "Polarized light based birefringence measurements for monitoring myocardial regeneration", Proc. SPIE 7179, Optics in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine III, 717908 (12 February 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.809151

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available