Abstract
Presentation Description :
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a critical tool to evaluate eye diseases, and to guide eye surgery. OCT provides rich information on retinal structure, but lacks molecular contrast. We have developed photothermal OCT (PT-OCT) to provide molecular contrast in the eye, specifically to map endogenous absorbers such as melanin and exogenous absorbers such as indocyanine green. We have validated that the PT-OCT signal in the retinal pigment epithelium is due to melanin, using albino and wild-type mice, with additional validations in CRISPR-modified zebrafish. We have further confirmed that the PT-OCT signal is linear with absorber concentration, thus enabling quantitative in vivo imaging of melanin concentrations in the eye. Additionally, we have confirmed that PT-OCT is sensitive to indocyanine green, a common contrast agent in ophthalmic imaging, using ex vivo eyes. Overall, PT-OCT offers promise for studying molecular changes in animal models of eye disease, and could be a powerful tool for patient monitoring and surgical interventions.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.