Abstract
.We report a small exploratory study of a methodology for real-time imaging of chemical and physical changes in spinal cords in the immediate aftermath of a localized contusive injury. One hundred separate experiments involving scanning NIR images, one-dimensional, two-dimensional (2-D), and point measurements, obtained in vivo, within a field, on spinal cords surgically exposed between T9 and T10 revealed differences between injured and healthy cords. The collected raw data, i.e., elastic and inelastic emission from the laser probed tissues, combined via the PV[O]H algorithm, allow construction of five images over the first 5 h post injury. Within the larger study, a total of 13 rats were studied using 2-D images, i.e., injured and control. A single 830-nm laser ( diameter round spot) was spatially line-scanned across the cord to reveal photobleaching effects and surface profiles possibly locating a near surface longitudinal artery/vein. In separate experiments, the laser was scanned in two dimensions across the exposed cord surface relative to the injury in a specific pattern to avoid uneven photobleaching of the imaged tissue. The 2-D scanning produced elastic and inelastic emission that allowed construction of PV[O]H images that had good fidelity with the visually observed surfaces and separate line scans and suggested differences between the volume fractions of fluid and turbidity of injured and healthy cord tissue.
Highlights
On every level, the costs of spinal cord injury (SCI) are staggering.[1]
At each position in the scan, the PV[O]H algorithm is applied to remitted collected light, calculating (1) the apparent volume fraction of the probed tissue filled by fluid and/or fluorescent materials and (2) the apparent turbidity of that fluid
In attempting to perform noninvasive in vivo spectroscopic probing for blood and tissues analysis[9] in skin, we needed to deal with the turbidity of biological materials in general
Summary
The costs of spinal cord injury (SCI) are staggering.[1]. We devote tens of billions of dollars each year in addressing the societal costs and that is small compared to human suffering on the individual level. We very briefly present a new algorithm, i.e., the PV[O]H algorithm, our procedures for collecting in vivo data from rats, and the results of an exploratory study to introduce PV[O]H as an imaging modality for rat spinal cord. We performed line scans to explore this possibility and observe the effect of the probing light on the tissue. We will present spinal cord images constructed from two-dimensional (2-D) scanning of an 830-nm laser across the region of interest. At each position in the scan, the PV[O]H algorithm is applied to remitted collected light, calculating (1) the apparent volume fraction of the probed tissue filled by fluid and/or fluorescent materials and (2) the apparent turbidity of that fluid.
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