Abstract

We demonstrate random laser (RL) emission from within bovine pericardium (BP) tissue. The interest in BP relies on its wide use as a valve replacement and as a biological patch. By imaging the emitting tissue, we show that RL emission is mostly generated inside the collagen fibers. Multimode RL operation is thus achieved within the volume of each fiber. Image analysis reveals that the intensity of the RL emission from individual fibers is dependent on the relative orientation to the stress axis. Our results suggest that RL intensity may be used as an indicator of stress concentration in individual fibers.

Highlights

  • Heart valve disease is a common condition affecting about 5 million people each year only in the US [1] and scales up to 13 million in European countries [2]

  • As customarily observed in random laser (RL) experiments, spectral narrowing in the emission from the bovine pericardium (BP) samples was observed as the pump energy was increased

  • After a given pump energy (~5 mJ), the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the emission decreased to values of 5~7nm

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Summary

Introduction

Heart valve disease is a common condition affecting about 5 million people each year only in the US [1] and scales up to 13 million in European countries [2]. Due to its good performance and hemodynamics, biological prostheses are preferred over their mechanical counterparts for valve replacement in adults between 50 and 69 years [3]. One of the reasons for this limited age range is the high variability in performance of biological prostheses after 10 years of implantation that eventually leads to failure [4]. Valve failure is related to the degradation of the collagen network and deterioration of the mechanical properties of the valve [4]. Recent efforts in tissue engineering are focused on producing valves and organ patches based on 3D printed technology [5]. A better understanding between the mechanical properties and the native structure of a tissue is still needed [6]

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