Jin Zi, Khazaeinezhad Reza, Zhu Jiang, Yu Junxiao, Qu Yueqiao, He Youmin, Li Yan, Gomez Alvarez-Arenas Tomas E, Lu Fan, Chen Zhongping
Beckman Laser Institute, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92612, USA.
School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325003, Zhejiang, China.
Biomed Opt Express. 2019 Nov 14;10(12):6272-6285. doi: 10.1364/BOE.10.006272. eCollection 2019 Dec 1.
Corneal elasticity can resist elastic deformations under intraocular pressure to maintain normal corneal shape, which has a great influence on corneal refractive function. Elastography can measure tissue elasticity and provide a powerful tool for clinical diagnosis. Air-coupled ultrasound optical coherence elastography (OCE) has been used in the quantification of ex-vivo corneal elasticity. However, in-vivo imaging of the cornea remains a challenge. The 3D air-coupled ultrasound OCE with an axial motion artifacts correction algorithm was developed to distinguish the in-vivo cornea vibration from the axial eye motion in anesthetized rabbits and visualize the elastic wave propagation clearly. The elastic wave group velocity of in-vivo rabbit cornea was measured to be 5.96 ± 0.55 m/s, which agrees with other studies. The results show the potential of 3D air-coupled ultrasound OCE with an axial motion artifacts correction algorithm for quantitative in-vivo assessment of corneal elasticity.
角膜弹性可在眼内压作用下抵抗弹性变形，以维持正常角膜形状，这对角膜屈光功能有很大影响。弹性成像可测量组织弹性，为临床诊断提供有力工具。空气耦合超声光学相干弹性成像（OCE）已用于离体角膜弹性的定量分析。然而，角膜的体内成像仍然是一项挑战。开发了具有轴向运动伪影校正算法的三维空气耦合超声OCE，以区分麻醉兔体内角膜振动与轴向眼球运动，并清晰地可视化弹性波传播。测得兔体内角膜的弹性波群速度为5.96±0.55米/秒，这与其他研究结果一致。结果表明，具有轴向运动伪影校正算法的三维空气耦合超声OCE在角膜弹性定量体内评估方面具有潜力。
