In vivo Brillouin optical microscopy of the human eye

Giuliano Scarcelli,Seok Hyun Yun

doi:10.1364/oe.20.009197

Giuliano Scarcelli, Seok Hyun Yun

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.20.009197

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Abstract

We report the first Brillouin measurement of the human eye in vivo. We constructed a Brillouin optical scanner safe for human use by employing continuous-wave laser light at 780 nm at a low power of 0.7 mW. With a single scan along the optic axis of the eye, the axial profile of Brillouin frequency shift was obtained with a pixel acquisition time of 0.4 s and axial resolution of about 60 μm, showing the depth-dependent biomechanical properties in the cornea and lens.

Highlights

Brillouin optical microscopy is a novel technique based on Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy for probing the viscoelastic properties of a sample with three-dimensional resolution [1]
The first Brillouin spectroscopy of biological tissues was demonstrated in the early 1980s [4, 5], where the Brillouin spectra of lens and cornea at single spatial points were obtained with an integration time of 10 min to 1 hour
The Brillouin frequency shift is determined with Lorentzian curve fitting

Summary

Introduction

Brillouin optical microscopy is a novel technique based on Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy for probing the viscoelastic properties of a sample with three-dimensional resolution [1]. The first Brillouin spectroscopy of biological tissues was demonstrated in the early 1980s [4, 5], where the Brillouin spectra of lens and cornea at single spatial points were obtained with an integration time of 10 min to 1 hour. The recent development of parallel spectrometer drastically reduced the acquisition time to 1 s or less [6], which allowed spatially resolved measurements [1, 7] and imaging [8]. Spatially-resolved measurements of human lenses [9] and animal corneas ex vivo [10] were recently demonstrated. The instrument employs a low-power laser light at 780 nm and a parallel Brillouin spectrometer optimized for the infrared wavelength

Setup and methods

Safety consideration

Results

Discussion