Liver Fibrosis Surface Assessment Based on Non-Linear Optical Microscopy

Abstract

Monitoring liver fibrosis progression by liver biopsy is important for certain treatment decisions but repeated biopsy is invasive. We envision redefinition or elimination of liver biopsy with surface scanning of the liver with minimally invasive optical methods. To achieve this, we acquired second harmonic generation and two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy images from fibrotic liver tissues. We established a quantification methods for fibrosis as-sessment based on morphological features extraction and analysis of such im-ages. Using this quantification method, we further defined capsule and sub-capsule regions on the liver surface based on image analysis of features. We discovered a strong correlation between the liver fibrosis progression on the surface and liver interior where biopsy is typically obtained. With the infor-mation contained on liver surfaces reflecting the fibrosis progression in liver interior, a window based animal model was later developed for live imaging and assessment of fibrosis through liver surface scanning.