Ultrashort laser pulse measurement for multiphoton microscopy

In this thesis, we address specific efforts towards developing the precise aspect of ultrashort laser pulse measurement in the context of biomedical research. The motivation for pursuing these new developments was triggered by the vision of developing fundamental tools that will enable to control matter by means of light with exquisite precision with the added difficulty of being next to biological samples which are extremely sensitive and fragile. For this, light matter interaction needs to be extremely well controlled to avoid undesired effects, like cell damage due to the high peak intensity values of ultrashort laser pulses, as well as promoting specific physical processes like two-photon fluorescence excitation of a desired fluorophore embedded in some biochemical environment. We focus in the two major bottlenecks regarding ultrashort laser pulse measurements for multiphoton microscopy, that aim for developing (1) new techniques for full characterization of ultrashort pulses under different experimental conditions and (2) new material with specific nonlinear properties that enable to obtain ultrashort pulse measurements that properly catch the temporal shape of light and at the same time can be readily found in biomedical lab, specially cost effective, non fragile and non-toxic. Combination of these two complementary strategies provides a new ground where it is possible to characterise an ultrashort pulse at the sample plane of a multiphoton microscope in a regular biomedical research facility. Importantly, we approach ultrashort pulse characterisation by developing a different theoretical framework to the state-of-the-art and we propose few initial experiments that preliminary support our theoretical statements in the form of new optical techniques. These findings are then experimentally tested under different conditions, such different optical setups and different pulsed regimes in order to evaluate the feasibility of the tools to measure ultrashort pulses in conditions that were prohibitive at the time this thesis was started. The scope of this thesis outlines the potential of such techniques, but further efforts shall be addressed to assess feasibility, robustness and further limitations

Neonatal Neurobehavior and Diffusion MRI Changes in Brain Reorganization Due to Intrauterine Growth Restriction in a Rabbit Model

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) affects 5–10 % of all newborns and is associated with a high risk of abnormal neurodevelopment. The timing and patterns of brain reorganization underlying IUGR are poorly documented. We developed a rabbit model of IUGR allowing neonatal neurobehavioral assessment and high resolution brain diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of the study was to describe the pattern and functional correlates of fetal brain reorganization induced by IUGR. Methodology/Principal Findings: IUGR was induced in 10 New Zealand fetal rabbits by ligation of 40–50 % of uteroplacental vessels in one horn at 25 days of gestation. Ten contralateral horn fetuses were used as controls. Cesarean section was performed at 30 days (term 31 days). At postnatal day +1, neonates were assessed by validated neurobehavioral tests including evaluation of tone, spontaneous locomotion, reflex motor activity, motor responses to olfactory stimuli, and coordination of suck and swallow. Subsequently, brains were collected and fixed and MRI was performed using a high resolution acquisition scheme. Global and regional (manual delineation and voxel based analysis) diffusion tensor imaging parameters were analyzed. IUGR was associated with significantly poorer neurobehavioral performance in most domains. Voxel based analysis revealed fractional anisotropy (FA) differences in multiple brain regions of gray and white matter, including frontal, insular, occipital and temporal cortex, hippocampus, putamen, thalamus, claustrum, medial septa

Quantitative discrimination between endogenous SHG sources in mammalian tissue, based on their polarization response

In this study, the second harmonic generation (SHG) response to polarization and subsequent data analysis is used to discriminate, in the same image, different SHG source architectures with pixel resolution. This is demonstrated in a mammalian tissue containing both skeletal muscle and fibrilar collagen. The SHG intensity variation with the input polarization (PSHG) is fitted pixel by pixel in the image using an algorithm based on a generalized biophysical model. The analysis provides the effective orientation, θe, of the different SHG active structures (harmonophores) at every pixel. This results in a new image in which collagen and muscle are clearly differentiated. In order to quantify the SHG response, the distribution of θe for every harmonophore is obtained. We found that for collagen, the distribution was centered at θe = 42.7° with a full width at half maximum of ∆θ = 5.9° while for muscle θe = 65.3°, with ∆θ = 7.7°. By comparing these distributions, a quantitative measurement of the discrimination procedure is provided.This work is supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya and by the Spanish government grant TEC2006-12654 SICO. Authors also acknowledge The Centre for Innovacio i Desenvolupament Empresarial-CIDEM (RDITSCON07-1-0006), Grupo Ferrer and the European Regional Development Fund. This research has been partially supported by Fundació Cellex Barcelona.Peer reviewe

Estimation of the effective orientation of the SHG source in primary cortical neurons

In this paper we provide, for the first time to our knowledge, the effective orientation of the SHG source in cultured cortical neuronal processes in vitro. This is done by the use of the polarization sensitive second harmonic generation (PSHG) imaging microscopy technique. By performing a pixel-level resolution analysis we found that the SHG dipole source has a distribution of angles centered at θe =33.96°, with a bandwidth of ∆θe = 12.85°. This orientation can be related with the molecular geometry of the tubulin heterodimmer contained in microtubules.This work is supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya and by the Spanish government grant TEC2006-12654. Authors also acknowledge The Centre for Innovacio i Desenvolupament Empresarial - CIDEM (RDITSCON07-1-0006), Grupo Ferrer and the European Regional Development Fund. This research has been partially supported by Fundació Cellex Barcelona.Peer reviewe

Contrast enhancement in second harmonic imaging: Discriminating between muscle and collagen

In this study, polarization second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging is used and data analysis is developed to gain contrast and to discriminate with pixel resolution, in the same image, SHG source architectures. We use mammalian tissue in which both skeletal muscle and fibrilar collagen can be found. The images are fitted point by point using an algorithm based on a biophysical model, where the coefficient of determination is utilized as a filtering mechanism. For the whole image we retrieve for every pixel, the effective orientation, θe, of the SHG active structures. As a result a new image is formed which its contrast depends on the values of θe. Collagen presented in the forward direction for a predefined region of interest (ROI), peak distribution of angles θe centered in the region of ∼45°, while muscle in the region of ∼65°. Consequently, collagen and muscle are represented in different colors in the same image. Thus, here we show that it is possible to gain contrast and to discriminate between collagen and muscle without the use of any exogenous labeling or any co-localization with fluorescence imaging. © 2009 SPIE-OSA.This work is supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya and by the Spanish government grant TEC2006-12654 SICO. Authors also acknowledge The Centre Innovacio i Desenvolupament Empresarial-CIDEM (RDITSCON07-1-0006), Grupo Ferrer and the European Regional Development Fund. This research has been partially supported by Fundació Cellex Barcelona.Peer Reviewe

DWI and complex brain network analysis predicts vascular cognitive impairment in Spontaneous Hypertensive rats undergoing executive function tests

Trabajo presentado en 30th European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB) Annual Scientific Meeting, celebrado en Toulouse, Francia, del 3 al 5 de octubre de 2013Peer Reviewe

Assessing structural characteristics of axons in cortical neurons using polarization sensitive SHG

Trabajo presentado en el SPIE Photonics Europe, celebrado en Bruselas (Bélgica), del 12 al 16 de abril de 2010Polarization sensitive second harmonic generation (PSHG) imaging can provide useful information which is unreachable by intensity SHG imaging. Specifically, it can provide geometrical characteristics of the SHG source molecular architecture. The information is obtained by rotating the excitation linear polarization and by fitting the SHG intensity variation to a cylindrical symmetry biophysical model. As a result, the ratios of the non-vanishing χ2 tensor elements, responsible for the SHG conversion, are retrieved. In the end, by assuming a SHG source with dominant hyperpolarizability, its molecular orientation can be estimated. Here, we developed and used this approach to retrieve submicron structural information from cultured neurons and to provide estimation on the effective orientation of the molecular SHG source in axons. For that purpose, the PSHG images of axons were fitted pixel by pixel using an algorithm based on the above mentioned model. A coefficient of determination of r2>90% was chosen as a filtering mechanism. For a selected region of interest we then retrieved the pixels' values histogram of the harmonophores' effective orientations, θe. The distribution was centred at θe=34.93°, with σ=7.62°. These angle values correspond to the geometrical characteristics of the tubulin heterodimmers forming the microtubules. Modifications on tubulin dimers may alter θe, σ thus the PSHG optical technique suggests novel quantitative biomarkers able to characterize neurons' plasticity as well as disease progression.Peer reviewe

Neonatal Neurobehavior and Diffusion MRI Changes in Brain Reorganization Due to Intrauterine Growth Restriction in a Rabbit Model

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) affects 5-10% of all newborns and is associated with a high risk of abnormal neurodevelopment. The timing and patterns of brain reorganization underlying IUGR are poorly documented. We developed a rabbit model of IUGR allowing neonatal neurobehavioral assessment and high resolution brain diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of the study was to describe the pattern and functional correlates of fetal brain reorganization induced by IUGR. Methodology/Principal Findings: IUGR was induced in 10 New Zealand fetal rabbits by ligation of 40-50% of uteroplacental vessels in one horn at 25 days of gestation. Ten contralateral horn fetuses were used as controls. Cesarean section was performed at 30 days (term 31 days). At postnatal day +1, neonates were assessed by validated neurobehavioral tests including evaluation of tone, spontaneous locomotion, reflex motor activity, motor responses to olfactory stimuli, and coordination of suck and swallow. Subsequently, brains were collected and fixed and MRI was performed using a high resolution acquisition scheme. Global and regional (manual delineation and voxel based analysis) diffusion tensor imaging parameters were analyzed. IUGR was associated with significantly poorer neurobehavioral performance in most domains. Voxel based analysis revealed fractional anisotropy (FA) differences in multiple brain regions of gray and white matter, including frontal, insular, occipital and temporal cortex, hippocampus, putamen, thalamus, claustrum, medial septal nucleus, anterior commissure, internal capsule, fimbria of hippocampus, medial lemniscus and olfactory tract. Regional FA changes were correlated with poorer outcome in neurobehavioral tests. Conclusions: IUGR is associated with a complex pattern of brain reorganization already at birth, which may open opportunities for early intervention. Diffusion MRI can offer suitable imaging biomarkers to characterize and monitor brain reorganization due to fetal diseases

DWI and complex brain network analysis predicts vascular cognitive impairment in spontaneous hypertensive rats undergoing executive function tests

The identification of biomarkers of vascular cognitive impairment is urgent for its early diagnosis. The aim of this study was to detect and monitor changes in brain structure and connectivity, and to correlate them with the decline in executive function. We examined the feasibility of early diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict cognitive impairment before onset in an animal model of chronic hypertension: Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats. Cognitive performance was tested in an operant conditioning paradigm that evaluated learning, memory, and behavioral flexibility skills. Behavioral tests were coupled with longitudinal diffusion weighted imaging acquired with 126 diffusion gradient directions and 0.3 mm(3) isometric resolution at 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, and 40 weeks after birth. Diffusion weighted imaging was analyzed in two different ways, by regional characterization of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) indices, and by assessing changes in structural brain network organization based on Q-Ball tractography. Already at the first evaluated times, DTI scalar maps revealed significant differences in many regions, suggesting loss of integrity in white and gray matter of spontaneously hypertensive rats when compared to normotensive control rats. In addition, graph theory analysis of the structural brain network demonstrated a significant decrease of hierarchical modularity, global and local efficacy, with predictive value as shown by regional three-fold cross validation study. Moreover, these decreases were significantly correlated with the behavioral performance deficits observed at subsequent time points, suggesting that the diffusion weighted imaging and connectivity studies can unravel neuroimaging alterations even overt signs of cognitive impairment become apparent