A combined approach for a quantitative evaluation of aorta related drugs

This paper describes a combined approach to an objective measurement of aorta samples of rats and a quantitative evaluation of aorta-related drugs. Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy is used for recording time sequence autofluorescence images of rat aorta. It has the advantage of less invasiveness and enables biological samples to maintain their physiological functions during experiments. Time sequence snake models are used to extract the aorta walls from images and to track the structural deformations caused by drug stimulation of the aorta. Several quantitative biomarkers extracted from these models are used as diagnostic indicators. In a preliminary study, the technique is used for evaluating the effect of a newly developed drug-human erythrocyte-derived depressing factor (EDDF). Experimental results suggest that by combining advanced optical imaging tools and image processing techniques, the proposed novel approach can reveal quantitative information of physiological activities of aortas and provide a quantitative and objective evaluation of aorta-related drugs.