Precision 1070nm Ultrafast Laser-Induced Photothrombosis of Depth-Targeted Vessels In Vivo.

Abstract

The cerebrovasculature plays an essential role in neurovascular and homeostatic functions in health and disease conditions. Many efforts have been made for developing vascular thrombosis methods to study vascular dysfunction in vivo, while technical challenges remain, such as accuracy and depth-selectivity to target a single vessel in the cerebral cortex. Herein, this paper first demonstrates the evaluation and quantification of the feasibility and effects of Rose Bengal (RB)-induced photothrombosis with 720-1070nm ultrafast lasers in a raster scan. A flexible and reproducible approach is then proposed to employ a 1070nm ultrafast laser with a spiral scan for producing RB-induced occlusion, which is described as precision ultrafast laser-induced photothrombosis (PLP). Combine with two-photon microscopy imaging, this PLP displays highly precise and fast occlusion induction of various vessel types, sizes, and depths, which enhances the precision and power of the photothrombosis protocol. Overall, the PLP method provides a real-time, practical, precise, and depth-selected single-vessel photothrombosis technology in the cerebral cortex with commercially available optical equipment, which is crucial for exploring brain vascular function with high spatial-temporal resolution in the brain.