Abstract
Optical coherence tomography is a micrometer-scale imaging modality that permits label-free, cross-sectional imaging of biological tissue microstructure using tissue backscattering properties. After its invention in the 1990s, OCT is now being widely used in several branches of neuroscience as well as other fields of biomedical science. This review study reports an overview of OCT's applications in several branches or subbranches of neuroscience such as neuroimaging, neurology, neurosurgery, neuropathology, and neuroembryology. This study has briefly summarized the recent applications of OCT in neuroscience research, including a comparison, and provides a discussion of the remaining challenges and opportunities in addition to future directions. The chief aim of the review study is to draw the attention of a broad neuroscience community in order to maximize the applications of OCT in other branches of neuroscience too, and the study may also serve as a benchmark for future OCT-based neuroscience research. Despite some limitations, OCT proves to be a useful imaging tool in both basic and clinical neuroscience research.
Highlights
Advances in biomedical engineering have made several imaging modalities to be an integral part of everyday neuroscience research
Robust efforts of scientists from all over the world resulted in the development of brain imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI, positron emission tomography (PET), electroencephalography (EEG), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) [1, 2]
A good number of neuroimaging methods have been developed in this regard, but they have one or more limitations of the following: they have a low spatiotemporal resolution, they are expensive, they need the use of contrast agents, they have a shallow depth, they are impractical for rodent brain imaging, they are limited in superficial two-dimensional (2D) images, and so on [3]
Summary
Advances in biomedical engineering have made several imaging modalities to be an integral part of everyday neuroscience research. The reason behind its gaining popularity within this short span of time is OCT’s numerous advantages that are offered to researchers and clinicians They are (i) quality images (OCT has demonstrated the ability to render images within a range of 1–10 μm axial resolution usually and even submicrometer (0.5 μm) resolution too [19]); (ii) imaging speed (OCT can give a temporal resolution up to milliseconds [20]); (iii) label-free imaging (OCT can give fine images of cerebral cortex without the need of any contrast agents [3, 21]); (iv) low cost (compared to some other imaging techniques, OCT is less expensive in most cases and even researchers from developing countries, where laboratories cannot afford to buy other expensive imaging systems, can use it); (v) additional functionality (while a basic OCT imaging method is able to render depth-resolved structural images of the target, more sophisticated OCT imaging strategies can provide additional functional information, such as blood flow (through Doppler OCT), tissue structural arrangement (through birefringence OCT), and the spatial distribution of specific contrast agents (through molecular contrast OCT) [19]). The aim of the study is to draw the attention of a wider neuroscience community in order to make the best use of OCT’s potentials and to serve as a benchmark for future OCT-based neuroscience research
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