Birefringence Measurement of Rapid Structural Changes during Collagen Denatu ration |
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Authors: | Vanitha Sankaran Joseph T Walsh Jr |
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Institution: | Biomedical Engineering Department, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA |
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Abstract: | Abstract— Linear birefringence, an optical property that results from a material's structure and composition, can be used to study dynamic changes in tissue structure. Single, 200 μs-long pulses from a Ho:YAG laser emitting 2.1 μm radiation were used to induce changes in the linear birefringence of rat tail tendon. Such changes were measured on a millisecond timescale. The measured rate coefficients describing the denaturation are not predicted by previous studies of collagen denaturation induced by slower, lower-temperature heating. Two types of laser-induced collagen denaturation can be differentiated: thermal denaturation, which appears rate-limited, and thermomechanical denaturation, which is observed at higher laser radiant exposures. Neither process is described by standard Arrhenius-type kinetic models. |
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