Significance: For use in medical balloons and related clinical applications, polymers are usually designed for transparency under illumination with white-light sources. However, when illuminated with ultraviolet (UV) or blue light, most of these materials autofluoresce in the visible range, which can be a concern for modalities that rely on tissue autofluorescence for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Aim: A search for published information on spectral properties of polymers that can be used for medical balloon manufacturing revealed a scarcity of published information on this subject. The aim of these studies was to address this gap. Approach: The autofluorescence properties of polymers used in medical balloon manufacturing were examined for their suitability for hyperspectral imaging and related applications. Excitation-emission matrices of different balloon materials were acquired within the 320- to 620-nm spectral range. In parallel, autofluorescence profiles from the 420- to 620-nm range were extracted from hyperspectral datasets of the same samples illuminated with UV light. The list of tested polymers included polyurethanes, nylon, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyether block amide (PEBAX), vulcanized silicone, thermoplastic elastomers with and without talc, and cyclic olefin copolymers, known by their trade name TOPAS. Results: Each type of polymer exhibited a specific pattern of autofluorescence. Polyurethanes, PET, and thermoplastic elastomers containing talc had the highest autofluorescence values, while sheets made of nylon, PEBAX, and TOPAS exhibited negligible autofluorescence. Hyperspectral imaging was used to illustrate how the choice of specific balloon material can impact the ability of principal component analysis to reveal the ablated cardiac tissue. Conclusions: The data revealed significant differences between autofluorescence profiles of the polymers and pointed to the most promising balloon materials for clinical implementation of approaches that depend on tissue autofluorescence.

中文翻译：

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用于医疗应用的球囊聚合物的自发荧光特性

意义：对于医用气球和相关临床应用，聚合物通常设计为在白光源照射下具有透明性。然而，当用紫外线 (UV) 或蓝光照射时，这些材料中的大多数会在可见光范围内发出自发荧光，这对于依赖组织自发荧光进行诊断或治疗的方式来说可能是一个问题。目的：搜索有关可用于制造医用气球的聚合物光谱特性的已发布信息，发现关于该主题的已发布信息很少。这些研究的目的是弥补这一差距。方法：检查了用于医疗气球制造的聚合物的自发荧光特性，以确定它们对高光谱成像和相关应用的适用性。在 320 到 620 nm 的光谱范围内获得了不同气球材料的激发-发射矩阵。同时，从 420 到 620 nm 范围内的自发荧光分布是从用紫外线照射的相同样品的高光谱数据集中提取的。测试的聚合物清单包括聚氨酯、尼龙、聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET)、聚醚嵌段酰胺 (PEBAX)、硫化硅树脂、含或不含滑石粉的热塑性弹性体，以及环烯烃共聚物，其商品名为 TOPAS。结果：每种类型的聚合物都表现出特定的自发荧光模式。聚氨酯、PET 和含有滑石的热塑性弹性体具有最高的自发荧光值，而由尼龙、PEBAX 和 TOPAS 制成的片材的自发荧光可忽略不计。高光谱成像用于说明特定球囊材料的选择如何影响主成分分析揭示消融心脏组织的能力。结论：数据揭示了聚合物自发荧光曲线之间的显着差异，并指出了最有希望用于临床实施依赖于组织自发荧光的方法的球囊材料。