Abstract
Measurement of the oxidation state of cytochrome c oxidase (oxCCO) can inform directly on neuronal metabolism. Conventionally this has been measured in vivo using benchtop broadband near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) systems. Spatially resolved measures of oxCCO have recently been made possible using a multichannel fibre-based broadband NIRS system. We describe the use of a fibreless multiwavelength NIRS system using light emitting diodes (LED) designed specifically to image localised changes in oxCCO and hence neuronal metabolism. A fibreless system consisting of four modules, each containing two LED sources and four photodiode detectors, was developed. Each LED source contained eight LED dies (780, 811, 818, 842, 850, 882, 891 and 901 nm) assembled in an area of 1.5 × 1.5 mm. A well-established hyperoxia protocol was used to evaluate the oxCCO spatially resolved measurement capabilities of the system and, subsequently, its imaging capabilities were tested using a functional activation paradigm. A multi-spectral image reconstruction approach was used to provide images of Δ[HbO(2)], Δ[HHb] and Δ[oxCCO] from the multi-distance, multi-channel optical datasets. This novel fibreless multiwavelength NIRS system allows imaging of localised changes in oxCCO in the human brain, and has potential for development as an inexpensive, wearable, continuous monitor of cerebral energetics in a range of experimental and clinical scenarios.