We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




Photoacoustic Radar Identifies Cholesterol in Arterial Plaque

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 26 Jun 2019
Image: Photoacoustic radar uses two different light sources to identify cholesterol (Photo courtesy of JBO).
Image: Photoacoustic radar uses two different light sources to identify cholesterol (Photo courtesy of JBO).
A new study shows how a combination of low-power continuous wave laser and frequency-domain signal processing can accurately evaluate plaque-based cholesterol.

Developed by the University of Toronto (UT; Canada), Sunnybrook Research Institute (Toronto, Canada), and Conavi Medical (North York, Canada), differential photoacoustic radar (DPAR) can provide lipid-specific chemical information from an arterial wall with high optical contrast and long acoustic penetration depth. Using two low-power continuous-wave (1210 nm and 970 nm) optical sources in a differential manner, hybrid optical-acoustic DPAR can provide an imaging modality that is only sensitive and specific to the spectroscopically defined imaging target, cholesterol.

According to the researchers, in the near-infrared (NIR) window, the 1210-nm optical source usually used during single-ended systems intravascular photoacoustic (IVPA) lipid applications causes sensitivity issues, as other arterial tissues also show some degree of absorption near that spectral region, thereby generating undesirably interfering PA signals. The introduction of the second, 970 nm optical source, results in a more accurate and molecularly specific evaluation of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. The study was published in the June 2019 issue of the Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO).

“Laser photoacoustics is a hybrid optical-acoustic imaging technology in which a subsurface target is excited with near-infrared light and imaged with optically induced ultrasound signals,” wrote lead author Sung Soo Sean Choi, PhD, of the University of Toronto, and colleagues. “Satisfying both high optical contrast and high ultrasonic depth penetration, intravascular photoacoustics is emerging as a competitive modality for plaque detection.”

“Photoacoustic imaging has the best potential for imaging through thick tissues or blood: the high-sensitivity detection of cholesterol described in this paper is made possible with a specifically modified, dual wavelength approach,” commented Professor Brian Pogue, PhD, of Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH, USA), editor-in-chief of JBO. “This is an original direction of imaging research that utilizes an innovative idea of detection based upon differences between wavelengths, and signal analysis based upon radar methods.”

Atherosclerosis is a chronic cardiovascular disease characterized by inflammation and the gradual buildup of lipid-rich plaque in the intima of the arterial walls. Early atherosclerosis is initiated as lipid-carrying low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) get retained beneath the endothelial cells of the vessels. As the LDLs are oxidized, the endothelial cells trigger an immune response by attracting macrophages. The ingested oxidized LDLs in the macrophages increase abnormally, transforming them into foam cells that eventually rupture, causing local damage to the endothelial cells.

Related Links:
University of Toronto
Sunnybrook Research Institute
Conavi Medical

Diagnostic Ultrasound System
DC-80A
Half Apron
Demi
Ultrasound Table
Women’s Ultrasound EA Table
New
Mobile X-Ray System
K4W

Channels

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: Perovskite crystal boules are grown in carefully controlled conditions from the melt (Photo courtesy of Mercouri Kanatzidis/Northwestern University)

New Camera Sees Inside Human Body for Enhanced Scanning and Diagnosis

Nuclear medicine scans like single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) allow doctors to observe heart function, track blood flow, and detect hidden diseases. However, current detectors are either... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.