Noninvasive multimodal fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging of whole-organ intervertebral discs

Wuwei Ren, Shangbin Cui, Mauro Alini, Sibylle Grad, Quanyu Zhou, Zhen Li, Daniel Razansky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is a commonly experienced symptom posing a tremendous healthcare burden to individuals and society at large. The LBP pathology is strongly linked to degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD), calling for development of early-stage diagnostic tools for visualizing biomolecular changes in IVD. Multimodal measurements of fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed on IVD whole organ culture model using an in-house built FMT system and a high-field MRI scanner. The resulted multimodal images were systematically validated through epifluorescence imaging of the IVD sections at a microscopic level. Multiple image contrasts were exploited, including fluorescence distribution, anatomical map associated with T1-weighted MRI contrast, and water content related with T2 relaxation time. The developed multimodality imaging approach may thus serve as a new assessment tool for early diagnosis of IVD degeneration and longitudinal monitoring of IVD organ culture status using fluorescence markers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3214-3227
Number of pages14
JournalBiomedical Optics Express
Volume12
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2021
Externally publishedYes

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