AUTHOR=Hu Chenfei , Santi Melissa , Adelaja Oluwatobi , Kajdacsy-Balla Andre , Popescu Gabriel , Kobak William 

TITLE=Imaging Collagen Properties in the Uterosacral Ligaments of Women With Pelvic Organ Prolapse Using Spatial Light Interference Microscopy (SLIM)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2019.00072

DOI=10.3389/fphy.2019.00072

ISSN=2296-424X

ABSTRACT=<p>We studied collagen fiber organization in tissue affected by pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and compared it to asymptomatic controls. Both the control and POP tissue biopsies were prepared and measured by a highly sensitive quantitative phase imaging (QPI) system, called spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM). Combined with automatic image processing, this modality provides quantitative, high-throughput assessment of fiber morphology. We found the fiber orientation in prolapsed specimens is less homogeneous, indicating an abnormal organization of collagen in the extracellular matrix (ECM).</p>