Visualizing retinal cells with adaptive optics imaging modalities using a translational imaging framework.

Adaptive optics reflectance-based retinal imaging has proved a valuable tool for the noninvasive visualization of cells in the living human retina. Many subcellular features that remain at or below the resolution limit of current techniques may be more easily visualized with the same modalities in an setting. While most microscopy techniques provide significantly higher resolution, enabling the visualization of fine cellular detail in retinal samples, they do not replicate the reflectance-based imaging modalities of retinal imaging. Here, we introduce a strategy for imaging samples using the same imaging modalities as those used for retinal imaging, but with increased resolution. We also demonstrate the ability of this approach to perform protein-specific fluorescence imaging and reflectance imaging simultaneously, enabling the visualization of nearly transparent layers of the retina and the classification of cone photoreceptor types.