Rodent retinal circulation organization and oxygen metabolism revealed by visible-light optical coherence tomography.

Shaohua Pi,Acner Camino,William Cepurna,David Huang,John C Morrison,Xiang Wei,Yali Jia,Joseph Simonett

doi:10.1364/boe.9.005851

Abstract

Visible light optical coherence tomography (vis-OCT) is an emerging label-free and high-resolution 3-dimensional imaging technique that can provide retinal oximetry, angiography, and flowmetry in one modality. In this paper, we studied the organization of the arterial and venous retinal circulation in rats using vis-OCT. Arterioles were found predominantly in the superficial vascular plexus whereas veins tended to drain capillaries from the deep capillary plexus. After that, we determined the oxygen metabolic rate supported by retinal microcirculation by combining retinal vessel oxygen saturation and blood flow measurements. The ability to visualize and monitor retinal circulation organization and oxygen metabolism by vis-OCT may provide new opportunities for understanding the pathology of ocular diseases.

Highlights

Blood flow within the retinal vasculature supplies metabolites to the retinal layers and disposes of waste products [1]
We proposed to combine a full set of functional features of Visible light optical coherence tomography (vis-OCT) to verify this hypothesis in the Brown Norway rat
Three functional features, retinal angiography, oximetry and flowmetry have been combined in the vis-OCT system to image retinal circulation of Brown Norway rats

Summary

Introduction

Blood flow within the retinal vasculature supplies metabolites (oxygen, glucose and other nutrients) to the retinal layers and disposes of waste products [1]. Either all or combinations of a total of four vascular complexes have been histologically observed in the human and animal retinas [3] These vascular networks include a nerve fiber layer plexus (NFLP), a ganglion cell layer plexus (GCLP), an intermediate capillary plexus (ICP) at the inner border of inner nuclear layer, and a deep capillary plexus (DCP) at the outer border of the inner nuclear layer. Because they support the high metabolic demand of the neuroretina, a detailed understanding of the structural and functional characteristics of the retinal vasculature is of utmost interest in understanding retinal physiology and pathology

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Discussion

Conclusion