Real-time polarization microscopy of fibrillar collagen in histopathology

Journal article

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Keikhosravi, A., Shribak, M., Conklin, M. W., Liu, Y., Li, B., Loeffler, A., Levenson, R. M., & Eliceiri, K. W. Real-time polarization microscopy of fibrillar collagen in histopathology. Scientific Reports, 11(1), (2021): 19063, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98600-w.Over the past two decades, fibrillar collagen reorganization parameters such as the amount of collagen deposition, fiber angle and alignment have been widely explored in numerous studies. These parameters are now widely accepted as stromal biomarkers and linked to disease progression and survival time in several cancer types. Despite all these advances, there has not been a significant effort to make it possible for clinicians to explore these biomarkers without adding steps to the clinical workflow or by requiring high-cost imaging systems. In this paper, we evaluate previously described polychromatic polarization microscope (PPM) to visualize collagen fibers with an optically generated color representation of fiber orientation and alignment when inspecting the sample by a regular microscope with minor modifications. This system does not require stained slides, but is compatible with histological stains such as H&E. Consequently, it can be easily accommodated as part of regular pathology review of tissue slides, while providing clinically useful insight into stromal composition.This work was supported by NIH R01 CA238191 (KWE), NIH P41GM135019 (KWE), NIH R01 GM101701 (MS), funding from the Morgridge Institute for Research (KWE), the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) (KWE), and the William T. Golden Endowment (MS)

Authors: Keikhosravi, A; Shribak, M; Conklin, MW; Liu, Y; Li, B

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 19063-19063
• Publication date: 2021-09-24
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98600-w
• EISSN: 2045-2322
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• Language: English
• Keywords: Histopathology; Medicine; Polarization Microscopy; Atomic force microscopy; Materials science; Pathology; Nanotechnology; Microscopy