Noninvasive multiphoton imaging of cardiovascular structures using NIR femtosecond laser scanning microscopy

Near infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser scanning microscopy represents a novel and very promising medical diagnostic imaging technology for non-invasive cross-sectional analysis of living biological tissues. In this study multiphoton imaging has been performed to analyze the structural features of extracellular matrix (ECM) components, e.g. collagen and elastin, of living pulmonary and aortic heart valves. High-resolution autofluorescence and second harmonic generation (SHG) images of collagenous and elastic fibers were demonstrated using multifluorophore, multiphoton excitation at two different wavelengths and non-invasive optical sectioning, without the need of embedding or staining. The quality of the resulting three-dimensional images allowed exact differentiation of the ECM components. These experimental results indicated that NIR femtosecond laser scanning microscopy may prove to be a useful tool for the non-destructive monitoring and characterization of cardiovascular structures.