Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Cover Image for Volume 60, Issue 9
July 2019
Volume 60, Issue 9
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   July 2019
In vivo characterization of the acceleration process of erythrocytes within human retinal capillaries
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Yuhua Zhang
    Doheny Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
  • Boyu Gu
    Doheny Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
  • Xiaolin Wang
    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Michael D Twa
    Department of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Johnny Tam
    National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
  • Christopher A Girkin
    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Srinivas R Sadda
    Doheny Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Yuhua Zhang, University of Alabama at Birmingham (P); Boyu Gu, University of Alabama at Birmingham (P); Xiaolin Wang, University of Alabama at Birmingham (P); Michael Twa, None; Johnny Tam, None; Christopher Girkin, University of Alabama at Birmingham (P); Srinivas Sadda, Allergan (F), Allergan (C), Carl Zeiss Meditec (F), Centervue (C), Genentech (F), Genentech (C), Heidelberg (C), Iconic (C), Novartis (C), Optos (F), Optos (C), Oxurion (C), Topcon (R)
  • Footnotes
    Support  National Institutes of Health (EY024378 and P30 EY003039), the National Science Foundation (IIA-1539034), the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute. Institutional support from Research to Prevent Blindness, EyeSight Foundation of Alabama
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science July 2019, Vol.60, 4612. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Yuhua Zhang, Boyu Gu, Xiaolin Wang, Michael D Twa, Johnny Tam, Christopher A Girkin, Srinivas R Sadda; In vivo characterization of the acceleration process of erythrocytes within human retinal capillaries. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2019;60(9):4612.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose : To characterize the dynamic movement of erythrocytes within human retinal capillaries and to assess the mechanical properties of the retinal microvasculature at the individual capillary level.

Methods : We imaged erythrocytes flowing in retinal capillaries of human subjects of different ages under physiologic conditions, using a high-speed adaptive optics near-confocal ophthalmoscope. We measured the continuous velocity of the erythrocytes with custom image processing software, and thereby, derived the acceleration rate of the erythrocytes. We calculated the correlation between the erythrocyte acceleration and pulsations that were simultaneously recorded from the fingertip of the subject during velocity measurement, and also measured the maximum acceleration rate (Fig.1). We studied subjects who were in normal health substratified into 2 age groups: 20-25 years old (n=8) and 52-57 years old (n=4). We further examined a hypertensive group (58-63 years old, n=3) who had long-standing hypertension (> 5 years), but were otherwise healthy.

Results : We measured erythrocyte velocity in 104 capillaries (young: 63; old: 32; hypertensive: 9) in 15 eyes of 15 subjects. The correlation coefficients between the pulse wave and the first derivative of the velocity were 0.95 ± 0.03, 0.94 ± 0.03, 0.92 ± 0.04 for the young, old, and the hypertensive group, respectively. The maximum acceleration values were 18.04 ± 9.53 (mm/s2), 12.86 ± 4.63 (mm/s2), 11.16 ± 3.58 (mm/s2), for the young, old, and the hypertensive group, respectively. The acceleration rates of the erythrocytes in the healthy older group and the hypertensive group were significantly lower than that of the young subjects (p=0.010 and p=0.044, respectively). However, we did not find a significant difference between the age-similar groups of normal and hypertensive subjects (p=0.8338). This may be partly due to the small number of subjects.

Conclusions : The acceleration waveform bears a strong resemblance to that of the pulse wave, indicating that the acceleration of the erythrocytes may reflect the overall mechanical performance of the retinal capillary and the erythrocytes within. This metric may have the potential for quantifying the health of the retinal microcirculation system.

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.

 

Fig. 1 Erythrocyte dynamics in human retinal capillaries.

Fig. 1 Erythrocyte dynamics in human retinal capillaries.

×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×