Abstract:We have combined Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) with a closed-loop adaptive optics (AO) system using a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor and a bimorph deformable mirror. The adaptive optics system measures and corrects the wavefront aberration of the human eye for improved lateral resolution (~4

We interfaced color Doppler Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (CD-FDOCT) with a commercial OCT system to perform in vivo studies of human retinal blood flow in real time. FDOCT does not need reference arm scanning and records one full depth and Doppler profile in parallel. The system operates with an equivalent A-scan rate of 25 kHz and allows real time imaging of the color encoded Doppler information together with the tissue morphology at a rate of 2-4 tomograms (40 x 512 pixel) per second. The recording time of a single tomogram (160 x 512 data points) is only 6,4ms. Despite the high detection speed we achieve a system sensitivity of 86dB using a beam power of 500microW at the cornea. The fundus camera allows simultaneous view for selection of the region of interest. We observe bi-directional blood flow and pulsatility of blood velocity in retinal vessels with a Doppler detection bandwidth of 12.5 kHz and a longitudinal velocity sensitivity in tissue of 200microm/s.

On the basis of these findings, we suggest that ascription of the outer retinal band 2 to the inner segment ellipsoid is unjustified, because the ellipsoid is both too thick and proximally located to produce the band.

The light responses of rod and cone photoreceptors have been studied electrophysiologically for decades, largely with ex vivo approaches that disrupt the photoreceptors' subretinal microenvironment. Here we report the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to measure light-driven signals of rod photoreceptors in vivo. Visible light stimulation over a 200-fold intensity range caused correlated rod outer segment (OS) elongation and increased light scattering in wildtype mice, but not in mice lacking the rod G-protein alpha subunit, transducin (Gα t ), revealing these responses to be triggered by phototransduction. For stimuli that photoactivated one rhodopsin per Gα t the rod OS swelling response reached a saturated elongation of 10.0 ± 2.1%, at a maximum rate of 0.11% s −1. Analyzing swelling as osmotically driven water influx, we find the H 2 O membrane permeability of the rod OS to be (2.6 ± 0.4) × 10 −5 cm·s, comparable to that of other cells lacking aquaporin expression. Application of Van't Hoff's law reveals that complete activation of phototransduction generates a potentially harmful 20% increase in OS osmotic pressure. The increased backscattering from the base of the OS is explained by a model combining cytoplasmic swelling, translocation of dissociated G-protein subunits from the disc membranes into the cytoplasm, and a relatively higher H 2 O permeability of nascent discs in the basal rod OS. Translocation of phototransduction components out of the OS may protect rods from osmotic stress, which could be especially harmful in disease conditions that affect rod OS structural integrity.osmotic stress | phototransduction | optical coherence tomography | intrinsic optical signals | photoreceptor waveguiding

Phase variance-based motion contrast imaging is demonstrated using a spectral domain optical coherence tomography system for the in vivo human retina. This contrast technique spatially identifies locations of motion within the retina primarily associated with vasculature. Histogrambased noise analysis of the motion contrast images was used to reduce the motion noise created by transverse eye motion. En face summation images created from the 3D motion contrast data are presented with segmentation of selected retinal layers to provide non-invasive vascular visualization comparable to currently used invasive angiographic imaging. This motion contrast technique has demonstrated the ability to visualize resolutionlimited vasculature independent of vessel orientation and flow velocity. ©2009 Optical Society of America