Simultaneous Characterization of Optical and Rheological Properties of Carotid Arteries via Bimodal Spectroscopy: Experimental and Simulation Results

This study aimed at identifying potential correlations between rheological and optical properties of carotid artery rings before and after cryopreservation at different mechanical deformations using experimental and simulation results. Therefore, a uniaxial mechanical test bench was coupled to fibered optical spectroscopes measuring 410 nm excited autofluorescence and 650–850 nm elastically backscattered intensity spectra. Furthermore, we developed a statistical simulation program of light transport and fluorescence adapted to our specific experimental configuration. Both spectroscopies gave intensity spectra with higher amplitude for the cryopreserved samples. These observations are to be related to histological modifications affecting the arterial wall of postcryopreserved samples. We also observed significant spectral amplitude variations (increasing autofluorescence intensity and decreasing diffuse reflectance) as a function of the circumferential strains (0%–60%). Due to simulation, we identified values of absorption, diffusion, and anisotropy coefficients, and their variations as a function of state (fresh-cryopreserved), strains (0, 30%, 60%), and wavelengths (700, 740, 780 nm). The media and the adventice are, respectively, less and more absorbing for postcryopreserved rings, and it is the opposite for the fresh ones at higher wavelengths. Absorption and diffusion coefficients are slightly higher, whatever the wavelengths and strains, for the fresh than for the cryopreserved samples.