| Microvascular optical functional imaging is paramount to the discovery of solutions to many diseases and biomedical engineering problems. This applies to, but is not limited to, cancer research, tissue engineering, and dermatology. Insight gained into the physiological processes that govern microvasculature will help enhance current treatments and design new methods to address these current issues.;The work described in this thesis involves the design, build, and application of a microvascular imaging system (MVIS) that integrates three imaging techniques, laser speckle imaging (LSI), fluorescence imaging (FI), and multispectral imaging (MSI). LSI is used to assess relative blood flow. FI highlights biochemical processes active in a subject. MSI is utilized for oxygenation imaging (O2I), which generates hemoglobin saturation maps. The MVIS is specifically tailored for use with the rodent dorsal window skinfold chamber model that has become a standard for studying microvascular activities in vivo.;Despite the MVIS being tailored for work with the window chamber model, it was designed to be as flexible as possible and therefore has many modular components, which allow the MVIS to be modified for use with non-window-chamber studies. The modularity of the MVIS was designed and implemented such that any temporary modifications would not invalidate the integrity of the system as used with the window chamber.;Application of the MVIS is ongoing and has provided two major sets of data, one of which has been published. The published work involves the use of transgenic mice that express green fluorescent protein (GFP), which is linked to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promoter activity. The VEGF-GFP activity is activated using selective vessel laser injury within the window chamber and the microvascular response and repair is monitored using the MVIS. The second major set of data comes from the study of the angiogenic and anastamotic processes involved when implanting a prevascularized engineering tissue construct into the window chamber. Several other studies utilizing the MVIS are ongoing. |
