Volumetric in-vivo imaging of intra-cochlear microstructures and microvascular perfusion in mice using high-speed spectral domain optical coherence tomography and ultra-high sensitive optical microangiography

Abstract

Studying the inner ear microstructures and microvascular dynamics is extremely important to understand the cochlear function and to further advance the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of many otologic disorders. There is considerable interest in developing new methods for in vivo imaging of the complex anatomy of the mammalian cochlea and the micro vascular perfusion within it for both clinical as well as fundamental studies. In this study, we explored the feasibility of high-speed spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and ultra-high sensitive optical microangiography (UHS-OMAG) for volumetric in vivo imaging of intracochlear microstructures and microvascular perfusion in mice, respectively.