Abstract
Purpose::
To demonstrate in vivo sub-cellular level imaging results of mouse cornea using ultrahigh resolution full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT).
Methods::
Real-time, ultrahigh resolution full-field optical coherence tomography capable of visualizing a horizontal cross-sectional image at a sub-cellular level was employed for in vivo imaging. The system was based on a white-light interference microscope combined with a polarization sensitive dual-channel detection technique. By using a low-coherence nature of the thermal light source, horizontal FF-OCT image was optically sectioned out with a thickness of 1.5 µm. The FF-OCT image consisted of 500 x 500 pixels covering an area of 420 µm x 420 µm with a transverse resolution of 1.7 µm. Time sequence of FF-OCT image was recorded at the video-rate. Jcl:ICR mice (4-6 week-old) anesthetized by intramuscular injection were used for this study. A drop of Scopisol® (Sankyo, Japan) was put between cornea and objective lens for index matching.
Results::
From FF-OCT imaging results recorded at video-rate, epithelium cells and endothelium cells were clearly observed, where highly scattering epithelium cell nuclei and the hexagonal structure of endothelial cells were well recognized. Meanwhile, crystalline lens fibers were observed as well by changing a depth position of the sample.
Conclusions::
It has been demonstrated that the ultrahigh resolution FF-OCT is feasible for visualizing the corneal structure of mouse at sub-cellular level in vivo.
Keywords: imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • cornea: endothelium • cornea: stroma and keratocytes