Detection of tissue thermal damage using quantitative histology

Loss and changes of the native form birefringence in heated striated skeletal and cardiac muscle, smooth muscle and collagen are discussed as histologic markers of thermal damage. The thresholds at which the birefringence changes occur depend on temperature and exposure time and vary among the different tissue types. The sharp boundaries of birefringence changes and certain other histologic markers of thermal damage can be measured to verify mathematical and physical models of heat distribution in tissues.<>