Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and effects on tendon tissue: a vibrational spectroscopy study.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an invasive medical technique used to provide life support in persons with insufficient cardiac and respiratory functionalities, or to preserve, post-mortem, organ function addressing organ/tissue transplant. Although a lot of information is available about organs in their entirety, the safety and effectiveness of allogeneic tissues collected from ECMO donors has not been fully elucidated. In this preliminary study, samples of tibial and peroneal human tendons were analyzed along their length with Raman micro-spectroscopy and ATR-FTIR micro-imaging. Both techniques evidenced a different chemical composition in the terminal with respect to the central part of the tendon. Thus, a differentiated analysis was performed depending on the specific position with respect to the bone or the muscle junctions. Spectroscopic analyses showed significant differences in the characteristics of extracellular matrix between tendons from ECMO and non-ECMO donors, suggesting changes in the amino acid (proline, hydroxyproline) content and protein structure. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.