Laser speckle imaging of atherosclerotic plaques through optical fiber bundles

Seemantini K. Nadkarni; Brett E. Bouma; Dvir Yelin; Amneet Gulati; Guillermo J. Tearney

doi:10.1117/1.2982529

1 September 2008 Laser speckle imaging of atherosclerotic plaques through optical fiber bundles

Seemantini K. Nadkarni, Brett E. Bouma, Dvir Yelin, Amneet Gulati, Guillermo J. Tearney

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 13, Issue 5, 054016 (September 2008). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2982529

Abstract

Laser speckle imaging (LSI), a new technique that measures an index of plaque viscoelasticity, has been investigated recently to characterize atherosclerotic plaques. These prior studies demonstrated the diagnostic potential of LSI for detecting high-risk plaques and were conducted ex vivo. To conduct intracoronary LSI in vivo, the laser speckle pattern must be transmitted from the coronary wall to the image detector in the presence of cardiac motion. Small-diameter, flexible optical fiber bundles, similar to those used in coronary angioscopy, may be incorporated into an intravascular catheter for this purpose. A key challenge is that laser speckle is influenced by inter-fiber leakage of light, which may be exacerbated during bundle motion. In this study, we tested the capability of optical fiber bundles to transmit laser speckle patterns obtained from atherosclerotic plaques and evaluated the influence of motion on the diagnostic accuracy of fiber bundle-based LSI. Time-varying helium-neon laser speckle images of aortic plaques were obtained while cyclically moving the flexible length of the bundle to mimic coronary motion. Our results show that leached fiber bundles may reliably transmit laser speckle images in the presence of cardiac motion, providing a viable option to conduct intracoronary LSI.

©(2008) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Citation Download Citation

Seemantini K. Nadkarni, Brett E. Bouma, Dvir Yelin, Amneet Gulati, and Guillermo J. Tearney "Laser speckle imaging of atherosclerotic plaques through optical fiber bundles," Journal of Biomedical Optics 13(5), 054016 (1 September 2008). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2982529

Published: 1 September 2008

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

JOURNAL ARTICLE
6 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY