Optical measurement of arterial mechanical properties: from atherosclerotic plaque initiation to rupture

Abstract

Abstract. During the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis, from lesion initiation to rupture, arterial mechanical properties are altered by a number of cellular, molecular, and hemodynamic processes. There is growing recognition that mechanical factors may actively drive vascular cell signaling and regulate atherosclerosis disease progression. In advanced plaques, the mechanical properties of the atheroma influence stress distributions in the fibrous cap and mediate plaque rupture resulting in acute coronary events. This review paper explores current optical technologies that provide information on the mechanical properties of arterial tissue to advance our understanding of the mechanical factors involved in atherosclerosis development leading to plaque rupture. The optical approaches discussed include optical microrheology and traction force microscopy that probe the mechanical behavior of single cell and extracellular matrix components, and intravascular imaging modalities including laser speckle rheology, optical coherence elastography, and polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography to measure the mechanical properties of advanced coronary lesions. Given the wealth of information that these techniques can provide, optical imaging modalities are poised to play an increasingly significant role in elucidating the mechanical aspects of coronary atherosclerosis in the future.

Non‐Invasive Periodontal Probing Through Fourier‐Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

“…E arly diagnosis in health care is desirable and necessary since it implies a better patient prognosis. Imaging methods are widely used in diagnostic medicine, as reviewed by Dhawan et al 1 Among the diversity of imaging modalities, optical coherence tomography (OCT), first introduced by Huang et al, 2 is now commercially available and considered the most innovative imaging technique used in ophthalmology; 3 it is also used in several other clinical applications such as dermatology, 4,5 gastroenterology, 6 cardiology, 7 gynecology, 8 oncology, 9 dentistry, 10,11 and non-medical applications, for instance, painting 12 and evaluation of materials' porosity. 13 In dentistry, OCT studies in hard and soft tissues have been performed since 1998, 10 and they have been proposed to be an effective tool to evaluate early caries and caries-related issues [14][15][16][17][18][19] and oral cancer.…”

Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

“…Birefringence of vessel walls is a promising diagnostic parameter for arteriosclerotic vascular disease accessible by PS-OCT [201]. In atherosclerosis, artery walls locally thicken and may form atherosclerotic plaque lesions, which may be categorized into stable and unstable (called vulnerable) plaques.…”

Optical coherence elastography – OCT at work in tissue biomechanics [Invited]

“…Although viscoelasticity has been discussed in Section 6 [150] and Section 7 [45,64,[109][110][111], it is has featured necessarily little in this review, because there is little work explicitly focusing on the viscosity of soft tissue [150], although that is not the case for the wider field of optical elastography [182,199].…”