Photoacoustic Microscopic Imaging of Cerebral Vessels for Intensive Monitoring of Metabolic Acidosis

Purpose Metabolic acidosis as one of the most common perioperative complications has been associated with increased risks for poor prognosis. Routine monitoring methods include blood gas analysis and electrocardiogram, which are limited by time delay effects. And the existing intravital imaging modalities are difficult to achieve in one step. Here, we present a dual-wavelength photoacoustic imaging approach to overcome this dilemma. The aim of this study was to develop a rapid approach for intensive monitoring of acid–base imbalance and cerebral oxygen metabolism. Procedures We characterized the cerebrovascular structure by label-free dual-wavelength (532 and 559 nm) photoacoustic microscopy in healthy and diabetic mouse models with metabolic acidosis. Concurrently, we developed a single-vessel analysis method to accurately delineate the differential responses of small vessels and quantify the cerebral oxygenation following experimental alteration of pH. Results We demonstrated that there was an increasing trend in changes of vascular measurements (density, diameter, and relative hemoglobin concentration) and cerebral microvascular oxygen metabolism with the aggravation of acidosis. Furthermore, we established a clinical nomogram for the diagnosis of disease severity and yielded good discrimination ability with area under the curve of 0.920–0.967 and accuracy of 81.9–93.0%. The nomogram was also validated well in the diabetic mouse model with metabolic acidosis. Conclusions Our photoacoustic imaging approach has great potential for rapid detection of metabolic acidosis and brain oxygen metabolism, which could potentially be applied as a bedside monitoring method for brain protection and timely treatment of acid–base abnormalities.