Evaluation of Laser Bio speckle as a new tool to detect exposure to ionizing radiation: A new dosimetric approach

Everyone in the world is exposed continuously to radiation. Exposure to ionizing radiation is known to have lethal effects in blood cells and other body organs and tissues. This work aimed to describe a new and simple method to evaluate the effect of chronic versus acute doses of ionizing radiation (IR) on animal blood model by the laser bio speckle measurements. The study concerned the biological effect for three groups of rats including control, chronically and acutely exposed to 1 Gy of gamma irradiation using Cesium-137 source. The blood samples of the three groups were then smeared over glass slides homogenously and fixed for further analysis. The bio-speckle images were produced using a coherent laser beam of green wavelengths 532.0 nm with output power < 50 mW illuminating the blood slides of the irradiated animals. Laser bio-speckle contrast measurements was used to detect the change in speckle pattern to visualize the change in blood components due to the deformation in shape and number of cells. Digital images are taken for each group samples. The chronic and acute dose reduction of the hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell count, creatinine in serum were (8.4 vs. 16.5), (7.2 vs. 18.4), (12.1 vs. 20.7), (12.5 vs. 23.2) respectively. The components of blood that showed no specific trend observed between chronic versus acute exposure were white cell count (83.2 vs. 49.9), total protein (7.0 vs. 3.8), MCV (-5.2 vs.-3.1), MCH (-4.4 vs.-5.6), MCHC (0.69 vs.-2.1), RDW (-13.9 vs.-4.9). The study pointed that ionized radiation causes a change in blood structure components in a dose-delivery dependent manner. While this finding is expected, the capability shown by bio-speckle patterns to be consistent with mode of radiation delivery is an interesting finding that might drive the scientific community for potential future applications. From the graph representing the relation between the dose delivery and laser bio speckle contrast, it appeared that there is a direct relationship between the response of some blood components and magnitude of laser bio speckle contrast. Thus, it highly suggestive of transferring the concept of bio-speckle to other organs and tissues. Further studies are recommended to establish the relationship not only between blood components but other molecular signatures and the measurement of laser bio speckle.

Automated summary

This study introduces a new and simple method to evaluate the effects of chronic and acute doses of ionizing radiation on animal blood model using laser bio-speckle measurements. It shows that ionizing radiation causes changes in blood structure components in a dose-delivery dependent manner. The bio-speckle patterns also demonstrate potential for future applications in understanding the effects of radiation on blood components and potentially other organs and tissues.