3D imaging and quantification of collagen and elastin fibers in asthmatic lung biopsies using higher harmonic generation microscopy

Asthma is associated with changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM), which consists mainly of collagen and elastin fibers. Higher harmonic generation microscopy (HHGM) visualizes elastin and collagen in unprocessed tissue within minutes, and in 3D. In an ongoing study, we use HHGM to image lung biopsies from asthma patients and healthy volunteers to investigate the differences in healthy and diseased ECM. So far, we found an increase in elastin and changes in the epithelium of asthmatic lung biopsies. We present the most recent results of this study and we will demonstrate how HHGM can be used to quantify collagen and elastin in lung biopsies with simple image analysis algorithms.