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Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of death in the United States, with 1 in 5 deaths (653,000 annually) attributable to coronary artery disease alone. While the disease processes are not completely understood, it is believed that patient risk depends on a variety of factors including lesion structure, biomechanical behavior, and morphological and chemical composition. While many imaging modalities are currently available for visualizing atherosclerotic plaques, none are capable of providing detailed information about chemical composition, which may be useful for better understanding disease progression and improving patient management.
Raman spectroscopy is a nondestructive technique based on spectral analysis of inelastically scattered photons. Analysis of Raman spectra yields detailed information about the molecular composition of the sample being interrogated. To date, most biological applications of Raman spectroscopy have been performed in the spectral region between 400 and 1800 1/cm, termed the “fingerprint” region. It is also possible to analyze Raman spectra in the high wavenumber region, between 2700 and 3100 1/cm, which offers distinct technical advantages but may yield different molecular information. Fingerprint Raman spectroscopy has previously been demonstrated as a viable technique for plaque diagnosis for ex vivo coronary arteries as well as in vivo human carotid arteries. In this project we will investigate the combined use of fingerprint and high wavenumber Raman spectroscopy for diagnosing atherosclerosis by building and testing a catheter-based Raman spectroscopy system for plaque diagnosis that is suitable for in vivo human coronary artery use.
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