In vivo retinal imaging in translational regenerative research

Abstract

Regenerative translational studies must include a longitudinal assessment of the changes in retinal structure and function that occur as part of the natural history of the disease and those that result from the studied intervention. Traditionally, retinal structural changes have been evaluated by histological analysis which necessitates sacrificing the animals. In this review, we describe key imaging approaches such as fundus imaging, optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT-angiography, adaptive optics (AO), and confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) that enable noninvasive, non-contact, and fast in vivo imaging of the posterior segment. These imaging technologies substantially reduce the number of animals needed and enable progression analysis and longitudinal follow-up in individual animals for accurate assessment of disease natural history, effects of interventions and acute changes. We also describe the benefits and limitations of each technology, as well as outline possible future directions that can be taken in translational retinal imaging studies.

Biological research and self-driving labs in deep space supported by artificial intelligence

“…Real-time detection of experimental results and pathologies in spaceflight could be enabled by full integration of VESGEN with computer-supported ophthalmic ocular coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT-angiography (OCT-A), which have recently been updated on the ISS for monitoring SANS 78 (a technology increasingly miniaturized 79 and AI-integrated). Fundoscopy, OCT and OCT-A are now available for real-time, longitudinal imaging of small animals 80 , which would greatly expand experimental capabilities 81 .…”