Monitoring airway mucus flow and ciliary activity with optical coherence tomography.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Muco-ciliary transport in the human airway is a crucial defense mechanism for removing inhaled pathogens. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is well-suited to monitor functional dynamics of cilia and mucus on the airway epithelium. Here we demonstrate several OCT-based methods upon an actively transporting in vitro bronchial epithelial model and ex vivo mouse trachea. We show quantitative flow imaging of optically turbid mucus, semi-quantitative analysis of the ciliary beat frequency, and functional imaging of the periciliary layer. These may translate to clinical methods for endoscopic monitoring of muco-ciliary transport in diseases such as cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
SUBMITTER: Oldenburg AL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3447542 | biostudies-other | 2012 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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