Photoacoustic imaging of cerebral hypoperfusion during acupuncture

Abstract

Using acupuncture to treat cerebral hypoperfusion is a hot topic. However, there is a lack of effective tools to clarify the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on cerebral hypoperfusion. Here, we show in a mouse model of cerebral hypoperfusion that photoacoustic tomography (PAT) can noninvasively image cerebral vasculature and track total hemoglobin (HbT) concentration changes in cerebral hypoperfusion with acupuncture stimulation on the YangLingQuan (GB34) point. We measured the changes of HbT concentration and found that the HbT concentration in hypoperfusion regions was clearly lower than that in the control regions when the acupuncture was absent; however, it was significantly increased when the acupuncture was implemented on the GB34 point. We also observed the increase of vessel size and the generation of new vessels in cerebral hypoperfusion during acupuncture. Laser speckle imaging (LSI) was employed to validate some of the PAT findings. #241512Received 22

Photoacoustic molecular imaging using combined acupuncture and gold nanorods as a composite contrast agent

“…Many studies have shown that there is a relationship between acupoints and functional brain areas. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] The ST36 point is located laterally and inferiorly to the knee joint, 3.5 mm below the ca-pitula¯bula. There are many acupoints including the ST36 point in the circulation of Foot-Yangming stomach meridian.…”

“…[27][28][29][30] An extensive body of research has demonstrated that the regulation e®ect of acupuncture and moxibustion at the acupoints on humans and animals is closely related to the e®ect and adjusting function of the stimulation on the nervous system. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] Acupuncture at the peripheral nervous system can exert a di®erent in°uence on the central nervous system including the brain stem, hypothalamus, basal ganglia and cerebral cortex. 39 Previous research in our laboratory has shown that in acupuncture, the Yongquan (KI1) and the Yanglingquan (GB34) acupoints can noninvasively increase the hemodynamics, including the cerebral blood volume (CBV) and total hemoglobin (HbT) in the in vivo mouse brain.…”

“…39 Previous research in our laboratory has shown that in acupuncture, the Yongquan (KI1) and the Yanglingquan (GB34) acupoints can noninvasively increase the hemodynamics, including the cerebral blood volume (CBV) and total hemoglobin (HbT) in the in vivo mouse brain. [31][32][33][34] Here, we considered poly(ethyleneglycol)-coated (PEGylated) gold nanorods (PEG-GNRs) as the photoacoustic contrast agent and considered acupuncture as a physical auxiliary method to adjust the hemodynamics of the mouse brain. In the study, we developed a method based on combined acupuncture and GNRs (as contrast agents), in which GNRs were injected intravenously and the concentration of hemoglobin in the cerebral cortex of the mice was increased by acupuncture at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint.…”

Breakthroughs in modern cancer therapy and elusive cardiotoxicity: Critical research‐practice gaps, challenges, and insights

“…273,283 Various exogenous probes with high contrast have also been extensively developed, including inorganic and organic dyes, 274 magneto-optical and photochromic probes, 283 nanoparticles, 282,287 and genetically encoded probes, 281 to achieve improved resolution and sensitivity while providing multi-parametric photoacoustic imaging. 283 This imaging modality has proven its clinical and preclinical value in functional, structural, and molecular aspects of diseases and has been used for physiologically and pathologically imaging various organs and tissues, including breast cancer, [288][289][290][291][292] neural tissues, 277,287,[293][294][295] fingers, 296 sentinel lymph nodes, 277,292,297 the cardiovascular system, [298][299][300][301][302] the prostate, 303,304 skin, 305 cancer therapy, 273,274,306 muscle oxygenation, 307 metabolic status, 274,283 eyes, 308,309 plaque pathophysiology, 310 tumor microenvironment (pH, enzymes, radical oxidation species (ROS), and metal ions, among others), 274 and biomaterial-tissue interactions to assess the functions of the engineered tissue/organ constructs. <...>…”

High frame rate photoacoustic imaging at 7000 frames per second using clinical ultrasound system

“…It has several potential clinical applications, such as breast cancer imaging, brain imaging, sentinel lymph node imaging, temperature monitoring, and many others [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. It uses non-ionising laser pulses to irradiate the sample (e.g., biological tissues), leading to absorption of light energy to increase the local temperature (in the order of a few milli degrees), resulting in thermoelastic expansion and release of pressure waves known as photoacoustic (PA) waves.…”