– KAIST and Korea University Develop In Vivo Microscopic Artery Motion Compensation Technology
[Image: Professor Honggi Yoo (left) from KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, doctoral student Minseok Jang, and Professor Jinwon Kim from Korea University’s Guro Hospital Cardiovascular Center. Provided by KAIST]
[Herald Economy = Reporter Bonhyeok Goo] Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death worldwide. It is known that mental stress exacerbates cardiovascular diseases, but precise observation has been challenging.
On the 20th, KAIST announced that Professor Honggi Yoo’s research team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering collaborated with Professor Jinwon Kim’s research team from Korea University’s Guro Hospital Cardiovascular Center to develop a new in vivo imaging technology. This technology compensates for vascular movement caused by heartbeats, allowing real-time observation of cellular movement within blood vessels.
The research team introduced a focus-adjustable lens into in vivo optical microscopy to estimate artery movement and developed a technique to synchronize it with the microscope’s focal plane. This technology increased the correlation coefficient (a statistical measure indicating image similarity) of images affected by arterial movement by fourfold, improved the temporal resolution (number of images captured per unit time) by 57%, and allowed real-time observation of rapidly moving immune cells within the vessel.
In other words, this technology significantly reduced image distortion caused by arterial movement and maintained stable focus, enabling successful real-time observation of rapidly moving immune cells within blood vessels without missing any visuals.
The research team applied this technology to acquire in vivo images from the carotid arteries of experimental mice exposed to chronic stress and compared them with control mice. They could quantitatively evaluate the progression of atherosclerotic lesions at a cellular resolution.
[Image: Schematic of the experimental design for acquiring trace images of vascular inflammation caused by chronic stress. Provided by KAIST]
In the carotid arteries of mice exposed to chronic stress, there was a 6.09-fold increase in bone marrow cell infiltration compared to the control group, and the trace imaging revealed a 2.45-fold increase in bone marrow cells. Additionally, histological analysis demonstrated that stress increased the size and inflammation of atherosclerotic plaques, thinned the fibrous caps, and increased plaque instability.
Professor Honggi Yoo stated, “This technology offers excellent temporal resolution to observe the effects of stress on cardiovascular diseases at the cellular level in real-time. We expect it to be a critical tool for elucidating the pathogenesis of stress-related cardiovascular diseases and developing new treatments.”
The research results were published in the international journal ‘Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.’