Document Type

Dissertation

Major/Program

Biomedical Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Dr. Wei-Chiang Lin

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Armando Barreto

Third Advisor's Name

Anthony McGoron

Fourth Advisor's Name

Richard Bone

Fifth Advisor's Name

Yen-Chih Huang

Keywords

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, hemoglobin concentration, in vivo tissue diagnosis, myocardial infarction, wavelet transform, spectral interpretation algorithm

Date of Defense

3-31-2011

Abstract

In recent decades, the rapid development of optical spectroscopy for tissue diagnosis has been indicative of its high clinical value. The goal of this research is to prove the feasibility of using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy to assess myocardial infarction (MI) in vivo. The proposed optical technique was designed to be an intra-operative guidance tool that can provide useful information about the condition of an infarct for surgeons and researchers.

In order to gain insight into the pathophysiological characteristics of an infarct, two novel spectral analysis algorithms were developed to interpret diffuse reflectance spectra. The algorithms were developed based on the unique absorption properties of hemoglobin for the purpose of retrieving regional hemoglobin oxygenation saturation and concentration data in tissue from diffuse reflectance spectra. The algorithms were evaluated and validated using simulated data and actual experimental data.

Finally, the hypothesis of the study was validated using a rabbit model of MI. The mechanism by which the MI was induced was the ligation of a major coronary artery of the left ventricle. Three to four weeks after the MI was induced, the extent of myocardial tissue injury and the evolution of the wound healing process were investigated using the proposed spectroscopic methodology as well as histology. The correlations between spectral alterations and histopathological features of the MI were analyzed statistically.

The results of this PhD study demonstrate the applicability of the proposed optical methodology for assessing myocardial tissue damage induced by MI in vivo. The results of the spectral analysis suggest that connective tissue proliferation induced by MI significantly alter the characteristics of diffuse reflectance and fluorescence spectra. The magnitudes of the alterations could be quantitatively related to the severity and extensiveness of connective tissue proliferation.

Identifier

FI11042504

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