Detection of Atherosclerosis in Human Artery by Mid-Infrared Attenuated Total Reflectance

Atherosclerosis, with its clinical sequelae, is the most common cause of death in the United States. In the atherosclerotic process, the innermost layer of the arterial wall becomes thickened due to cellular proliferation and the accumulation of cholesterol and lipids. The primary means of characterizing atherosclerotic lesions is histochemical analysis, in which arterial wall cross sections are studied under a microscope. This method requires removal of arterial tissue and is therefore not suited to arterial wall characterization in vivo. Consequently, histopathological information is rarely available clinically for selecting an appropriate therapy. To overcome this limitation, researchers are exploring several nondestructive techniques, such as ultrasound, UV-visible absorption, and UV-visible fluorescence, as alternative methods of probing arterial wall composition and structure.