Retina imaging
One of the main applications fields of optical coherence tomography is the non-invasive imaging of the ocular fundus. Modern OCT devices allow high-resolution cross sectional imaging of the retina in real time and are therefore an important clinical diagnostic tool for the detection, classification and follow-up of eye diseases.
Studying the mechanisms underlying eye diseases, small animal models, such as mice or rats, play an important role. Here, a gentle non-invasive imaging by OCT enables follow-up studies under in vivo conditions to examine the retinal development of the same organism regarding course of a disease and treatment success. A particularly interesting model organism is zebrafish, which is able to regenerate its retina almost completely after an injury and by this also to re-establish the visual function.
Therefore, the research group Clinical Sensoring and Monitoring develops in cooperation with other biomedical research divisions in Dresden, such as the Institute of Anatomy and the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), application-specific OCT imaging methods to study the retina and the posterior segment of the eye in small animal models. In the scope of this research work, an OCT system has been developed, which has a spatial resolution of 1 µm in tissue therefore allows previously unattained detailed views of microstructures of the eye background. Worldwide, there are only a handful comparable devices, which makes this system especially valuable for studying basic mechanisms on living organisms.
Fundus image (a) with retinal blood vessels. Due to the high spatial resolution of the used OCT system of 1 µm in tissue, the single layers are clearly to distinguish in the OCT cross section. Based on this extremely well structural resolution, an exact classification and correlation with histological sections is possible (c and d). As OCT is based on near-infrared light, this imaging technique can be excellently and repeatedly applied on living organisms for a differentiated investigation of retinal changes and their temporal course. [1] abbreviations: retinal pigment epithelium (RPE); photoreceptor layer (PRL); outer limiting membrane (OLM); inner / outer nuclear layer (INL / ONL); inner / outer plexiform layer (IPL / OPL); ganglion cell layer (GCL); retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) (1)
Cooperations
TU Dresden, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Institute of Anatomy
Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Dr. Marius Ader
Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Prof. Dr. Michael Brand
Contact
© Julia Walther, KSM
Mr Dr. rer. medic. Christian Schnabel
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Clinical Sensoring and Monitoring
Clinical Sensoring and Monitoring
Visiting address:
Medizinisch-Theoretisches Zentrum (MTZ - Haus 91) Fiedlerstraße 42
01307 Dresden
Publication
A. Weber, S. Hochmann, P. Cimalla, M. Gärtner, V. Kuscha, S. Hans, M. Geffarth, J. Kaslin, E. Koch, M. Brand „Characterization of Light Lesion Paradigms and Optical Coherence Tomography As Tools To Study Adult Retina Regeneration In Zebrafish“, PLOS One 8(11), e80483, (2013)