Abstract
Purpose:
The use of OCT is gaining popularity as a non-invasive tool for retinal evaluation in preclinical studies, both for ocular therapeutics as well as non-ocular indications where adverse ocular side effects may be a concern. This poster presents OCT images of normal eyes from the Heidelberg Spectralis and Zeiss Cirrus systems in 4 laboratory animal species, with an evaluation of quality of retinal cell layer definition and histopathology correlates.
Methods:
Retina images were collected for non-human primate, dog, rat and rabbit on each system. Animals were sedated for all imaging sessions; a mydriatic was used to dilate the pupil. For the Cirrus system, macular cube was used as the scan type. For the Spectralis system, volume scans or individual scans were used. Images were compared for clarity of retinal layers and correlation with H&E stained histopathology sections.
Results:
Both systems provided high resolution retinal cross sections in all 4 species with the ability to measure overall retinal thickness or the thickness of individual retinal layers. The anatomical orientation of the retinal layers correlated well with histopathology and published literature on human eyes. The significant size difference between human eyes and the animal eyes images did not impede obtaining high quality, interpretable images in eyes as small as rats with these clinical instruments.
Conclusions:
Each platform provides the ability to image and analyze retinal layers in NHP, dogs, rabbits and rats that is comparable in quality to the human imaging. Applications for preclinical drug development include the ability to detect retinal thinning or detachment without having to euthanize the animal and to potentially detect retinal lesions before they are apparent clinically. Changes in the vitreous (e.g. deposits, vitreous detachment) can also be imaged.
Keywords: 551 imaging/image analysis: non-clinical •
688 retina •
552 imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)