Abstract
Presentation Description :
While alterations to blood flow and retinal vascular structure have been measured using traditional imaging techniques the details of the smaller retinal arterioles, venules and capillaries were less accessible. Adaptive optics now allows us to make precise measurements of the structure and function of these small blood vessels. For structural measurements we have been measuring both the walls of the vessels and the branching patterns of the vessels. Here we find that early diabetes is having large effects on the vascular structure. The impact of diabetes appear to be larger for the smaller blood vessels than for larger vessels. To better investigate blood flow in diabetes we have developed techniques to improve measurements for both intermediate and small blood vessels. In control subjects there is a strong pulsatility in blood flow that is tied to the cardiac cycle. This pulsatility is measurable even in the post-capillary venules. In addition there are changes in average blood flow that arise from local factors such as neurovascular coupling as well as local changes that are much larger in capillaries than in their feeding arterioles or draining venules. In diabetes blood flow can be impacted early in the course of disease.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.