Photoacoustic imaging of the liver in mice with minimal hepatic encephalopathy

Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy (MHE) is a potential neurological complication in patients with liver cirrhosis. Here, we propose the use of Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI) for non-invasive assessment of the structure and function of the liver in MHE. Our PAI results showed that the hepatic vascular structure in the acute MHE mice model did not undergo significant changes, but the hemoglobin oxygen saturation content was markedly decreased. In contrast, in the chronic MHE model, the hepatic vasculature of the mice was disorganized, and the architecture of the hepatic lobule was not intact, and the liver function of hepatic metabolism was also significantly impaired. This study has demonstrated that PAI holds immense potential to assess liver structure and function in MHE disease.