Polarized Light Based Measurements for Myocardial Characterization

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Myocardial infarction leads to remodeling of the myocardium, resulting in a deterioration of cardiac function. This remodeling involves changes in the collagen content and organization in the myocardium. Recently developed stem-cell based regenerative treatments have been shown to reduce myocardial remodeling and collagen formation after infarction, however, this emerging field is in dire need of biomarkers to monitor these treatments. Because collagen fibers exhibit birefringence there is the possibility of using polarized light for treatment monitoring. This is explored through experimental measurements and Monte Carlo calculations to demonstrate the potential for polarized light based monitoring of these regenerative treatments.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.