Optical Coherence Tomography for Brain Imaging and Developmental Biology

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising research tool for brain imaging and developmental biology. Serving as a three-dimensional optical biopsy technique, OCT provides volumetric reconstruction of brain tissues and embryonic structures with micrometer resolution and video rate imaging speed. Functional OCT enables label-free monitoring of hemodynamic and metabolic changes in the brain in vitro and in vivo in animal models. Due to its non-invasiveness nature, OCT enables longitudinal imaging of developing specimens in vivo without potential damage from surgical operation, tissue fixation and processing, and staining with exogenous contrast agents. In this paper, various OCT applications in brain imaging and developmental biology are reviewed, with a particular focus on imaging heart development. In addition, we report findings on the effects of a circadian gene (Clock) and high-fat-diet on heart development in Drosophila melanogaster. These findings contribute to our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms connecting circadian genes and obesity to heart development and cardiac diseases.

Dynamic imaging and quantitative analysis of cranial neural tube closure in the mouse embryo using optical coherence tomography

“…Utilizing low-coherence light in the near-infrared region, OCT features a microscale spatial resolution with an imaging depth at millimeter level in scattering tissues [24], bridging the gap of imaging scales between the confocal and acoustic imaging techniques. This unique spatial imaging scale of OCT has enabled applications ranging from biomedical research [25][26][27] to clinical diagnosis and monitoring [28][29][30]. Embryology is a major research area where OCT shows great promise as a high-resolution unlabeled imaging tool [31][32][33].…”

Optical coherence tomography for precision brain imaging, neurosurgical guidance and minimally invasive theranostics

“…Ultrahigh resolution has remarkable characteristics for detecting microstructure in OCT imaging. OCT has been widely used in brain imaging (36)(37)(38). Bizheva et al reported that UHR OCT was investigated for imaging of brain tissue morphology using a number of animal models ex vivo and in vitro (39).…”

Design and Implementation Guidelines for a Modular Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Scanner

“…Optical coherence tomography can visualize the detailed structure of different biological tissue samples [2] such as brain cytoarchitecture [3], large cellular structures (e.g., [4,5]), or retinal layers in the eye ( [6][7][8] to name a few) or functional retinal images (e.g., [9,10]). In addition, it can provide functional information by capturing the vascular morphology through optical coherence angiography (e.g., [11][12][13][14]) or by recording vascular blood velocity (e.g., [15][16][17][18]).…”

“…While the theory and applications of SD-OCT are vastly presented in many great literatures (e.g., [2,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]), the lack of a detailed discussion on optical design and practical implementation guidelines of this device precludes the utilization of SD-OCT scanners by many researchers. In this paper, we review the fundamental concepts of SD-OCT image formation and propound practical considerations for the design and implementation of the device, along with some guidelines for choosing proper components to obtain the desired image quality.…”