Giannakaki-Zimmermann Helena, Kokona Despina, Wolf Sebastian, Ebneter Andreas, Zinkernagel Martin S
Department of Ophthalmology and Department of Clinical Research Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Switzerland.
Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2016 Aug 18;5(4):11. doi: 10.1167/tvst.5.4.11. eCollection 2016 Aug.
Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) allows noninvasive visualization of retinal vessels in vivo. OCT-A was used to characterize the vascular network of the mouse retina and was compared with fluorescein angiography (FA) and histology.
In the present study, OCT-A based on a Heidelberg Engineering Spectralis system was used to investigate the vascular network in mice. Data was compared with FA and confocal microscopy of flat-mount histology stained with isolectin IB4. For quantitative analysis the National Cancer Institute's AngioTool software was used. Vessel density, the number of vessel junctions, and endpoints were measured and compared between the imaging modalities.
The configuration of the superficial capillary network was comparable with OCT-A and flat-mount histology in BALBc mice. However, vessel density and the number of vessel junctions per region of interest ( = 0.0161 and = 0.0015, respectively) in the deep vascular network of BALBc mice measured by OCT-A was significantly higher than with flat-mount histology. In C3A.Cg mice, where the deep capillary plexus is absent, analysis of the superficial network provided similar results for all three imaging modalities.
OCT-A is a helpful imaging tool for noninvasive, in vivo imaging of the vascular plexus in mice. It may offer advantages over FA and confocal microscopy especially for imaging the deep vascular plexus.
The present study shows that OCT-A can be employed for small animal imaging to assess the vascular network and offers advantages over flat-mount histology and FA.
光学相干断层扫描血管造影术（OCT-A）可在体内对视网膜血管进行无创可视化。本研究使用OCT-A对小鼠视网膜血管网络进行特征分析，并与荧光素血管造影术（FA）和组织学检查进行比较。
在本研究中，基于海德堡工程公司Spectralis系统的OCT-A被用于研究小鼠的血管网络。将数据与FA以及用异凝集素IB4染色的平铺组织学共聚焦显微镜检查结果进行比较。使用美国国立癌症研究所的AngioTool软件进行定量分析。测量并比较了不同成像方式下的血管密度、血管交叉点数量和端点数量。
BALBc小鼠的浅表毛细血管网络结构在OCT-A和平铺组织学检查中具有可比性。然而，通过OCT-A测量的BALBc小鼠深层血管网络中每个感兴趣区域的血管密度和血管交叉点数量（分别为=0.0161和=0.0015）显著高于平铺组织学检查结果。在缺乏深层毛细血管丛的C3A.Cg小鼠中，对浅表网络的分析在所有三种成像方式下均得到了相似的结果。
OCT-A是一种用于小鼠血管丛无创体内成像的有用成像工具。它可能比FA和共聚焦显微镜具有优势，特别是在对深层血管丛成像方面。
本研究表明，OCT-A可用于小动物成像以评估血管网络，并且比平铺组织学检查和FA具有优势。
