Abstract

Fluorescence lifetimes of coronary arteries with normal intima, white atherosclerotic plaque, and calcified atherosclerotic plaque were measured in the wavelength range beyond 360 nm and in the bandwidths centered on 390 nm, 450 nm, and 500 nm. The fluorescence profiles were fitted to a double exponential with a fast and a slow component. At wavelengths above 360 nm, arteries with white atherosclerotic plaque appear to have a fast component (113 31 ps) that is shorter than that of normal arteries (126 17 ps) or arteries with calcified plaque (133 35 ps). In the band centered at 390 nm, the fast components of normal arteries (148 41 ps) and arteries with white plaque (112 141 ps) are slower than that of calcified plaque arteries (81 56 ps). In the 450 nm band, both arteries with white plaque and calcified plaque arteries have fast components that are faster (x ps) than that of normal arteries. The slow component of arteries with white plaque in the 390 nm band is greater (3 0.4 ps) than that of normal arteries or arteries with calcified plaque (2.2 0.2 ps, 2.6 0.2 ps). These preliminary results indicate that arteries with white plaque, arteries with calcified plaque, and normal arteries may be distinguished from one another.

© 1990 Optical Society of America