Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy

Hailong He; Angelos Karlas; Nikolina-Alexia Fasoula; Chiara Fischer; Ulf Darsow; Michael Kallmayer; Juan Aguirre; Hans-Henning Eckstein; Vasilis Ntziachristos

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02103-6

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Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy

Original Articles

- Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy
- Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy
- Light: Science & Applications 2026年15卷第2期页码：486-498
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Chair of Biological Imaging, Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine and Health & School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  2.Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Bioengineering Center, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
  3.DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
  4.Clinic and Polyclinic for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, TUM University Hospital, Hospital Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  5.Chair for Computer Aided Medical Procedures & Augmented Reality, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  6.Clinic for Vascular Surgery, Helios Klinikum München West, Munich, Germany
  7.Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  8.Departamento de Tecnología Electrónica y de las Comunicaciones, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  9.Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de la Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain
- Author bio：
  
  Vasilis Ntziachristos (bioimaging.translatum@tum.de)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02103-6
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2025-01-22，
  
  修回：2025-09-19，
  
  录用：2025-10-15，
  
  网络首发：2026-01-03，
  
  纸质出版：2026-02-28
- Accepted：
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Hailong He, Angelos Karlas, Nikolina-Alexia Fasoula, 等. Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(2):486-498.

He, H. L. et al. Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 486-498 (2026).
Hailong He, Angelos Karlas, Nikolina-Alexia Fasoula, 等. Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(2):486-498. DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02103-6.

He, H. L. et al. Single-capillary endothelial dysfunction resolved by optoacoustic mesoscopy. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 486-498 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02103-6.

摘要

Abstract

Microvascular endothelial dysfunction (MiVED) is an early marker of endothelial impairment

often preceding dysfunction in large arteries. Although MiVED assessment could reveal new insights into the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or offer earlier detection and finer disease stratification

detailed in-vivo MiVED observation remains challenging due to a lack of suitable technologies. To address this gap

we hypothesized that accelerating ultra-wideband raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM)

i.e.

fast RSOM (fRSOM)

could resolve for the first time cutaneous MiVED features at single capillary resolution. We investigated whether we could record morphological features and dynamic responses during post-occlusive reactive hyperemia to achieve the most detailed observation of microvascular endothelial function to date. Our results show that using fRSOM on skin clearly measured the effects of smoking (N = 20) and atherosclerotic CVD (N = 20) on cutaneous endothelial function. For the first time

we found layer-specific effects

with smoking and CVD affecting the sub-papillary dermis differently than the reticular dermis; a finding not resolvable using “bulk” volumetric signals from laser Doppler flowmetry or tissue spectrometry. Interestingly

we observed no substantial structural changes in the microvasculature of smokers and volunteers with CVD

indicating that MiVED may be an earlier marker than morphology-based biomarkers typically assessed by histological studies. Our study introduces a non-invasive modality that enables the visualization and quantification of skin microvascular structure and function

bridging a technological gap and offering new insights into the effects of diseases on MiVED. This study potentially paves the way for fRSOM use as an early detection

diagnostic

or theranostic marker.

关键词

Keywords

references

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