TY - JOUR
T1 - Detecting biochemical changes in the rodent cervix during pregnancy using raman spectroscopy
AU - Vargis, Elizabeth
AU - Brown, Naoko
AU - Williams, Kent
AU - Al-Hendy, Ayman
AU - Paria, Bibhash C.
AU - Reese, Jeff
AU - Mahadevan-Jansen, Anita
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the National Institutes of Health (Grant No. R01-CA-095405, AMJ and HD 044741, BCP) and a predoctoral fellowship (Grant No. T32-HL7751-15) for EV. Special thanks go to Stan Poole and Wais Folad for their help with the structural testing experiments, Xiahong Bi for conversations about Raman peak assignments and Amy Rudin for proofreading this paper.
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - The goal of this research is to determine whether Raman spectroscopy (RS), an optical method that probes the vibrational modes of tissue components, can be used in vivo to study changes in the mouse cervix during pregnancy. If successful, such a tool could be used to detect cervical changes due to pregnancy, both normal and abnormal, in animal models and humans. For this study, Raman spectra were acquired before, during and after a 19-day mouse gestational period. In some cases, after Raman data was obtained, cervices were excised for structural testing and histological staining for collagen and smooth muscle. Various peaks of the Raman spectra, such as the areas corresponding to fatty acid content and collagen organization, changed as the cervix became softer in preparation for labor and delivery. These findings correspond to the increase in compliance of the tissue and the collagen disorganization visualized with the histological staining. The results of this study suggest that non-invasive RS can be used to study cervical changes during pregnancy, labor and delivery and can possibly predict preterm delivery before overt clinical manifestations, potentially lead to more effective preventive and therapeutic interventions.
AB - The goal of this research is to determine whether Raman spectroscopy (RS), an optical method that probes the vibrational modes of tissue components, can be used in vivo to study changes in the mouse cervix during pregnancy. If successful, such a tool could be used to detect cervical changes due to pregnancy, both normal and abnormal, in animal models and humans. For this study, Raman spectra were acquired before, during and after a 19-day mouse gestational period. In some cases, after Raman data was obtained, cervices were excised for structural testing and histological staining for collagen and smooth muscle. Various peaks of the Raman spectra, such as the areas corresponding to fatty acid content and collagen organization, changed as the cervix became softer in preparation for labor and delivery. These findings correspond to the increase in compliance of the tissue and the collagen disorganization visualized with the histological staining. The results of this study suggest that non-invasive RS can be used to study cervical changes during pregnancy, labor and delivery and can possibly predict preterm delivery before overt clinical manifestations, potentially lead to more effective preventive and therapeutic interventions.
KW - Biomedical photonics
KW - Gestation
KW - Parturition
KW - Raman spectroscopy
KW - Structural testing
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U2 - 10.1007/s10439-012-0541-4
DO - 10.1007/s10439-012-0541-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 22411265
AN - SCOPUS:84864540175
SN - 0090-6964
VL - 40
SP - 1814
EP - 1824
JO - Annals of Biomedical Engineering
JF - Annals of Biomedical Engineering
IS - 8
ER -