Laser-induced fluorescence of atherosclerotic plaques

Abstract

In vitro laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra and lifetimes of normal and atherosclerotic tissues are reported. The experimental arrangement conceived to measure LIF contained a 700 ps nitrogen pulsed laser (337.1 nm) and two quartz optical fibers to induce and respectively collect the fluorescence of normal and diseased samples. With UV laser excitation we found proeminent differences both in spectral and temporal range between normal artery and atherosclerotic plaques which was standard pathological classified in five types such as: normal artery, fibrous plaque, atherosclerotic plaque, calcified plaque and ulcerated plaque. As for statistics, the total number of measurements performed on each of the five mentioned types of tissues was 25.