Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 30;12(1):13130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14450-0.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows label-free, micron-scale 3D imaging of biological tissues' fine structures with significant depth and large field-of-view. Here we introduce a novel OCT-based neuroimaging setting, accompanied by a feature segmentation algorithm, which enables rapid, accurate, and high-resolution in vivo imaging of 700 μm depth across the mouse cortex. Using a commercial OCT device, we demonstrate 3D reconstruction of microarchitectural elements through a cortical column. Our system is sensitive to structural and cellular changes at micron-scale resolution in vivo, such as those from injury or disease. Therefore, it can serve as a tool to visualize and quantify spatiotemporal brain elasticity patterns. This highly transformative and versatile platform allows accurate investigation of brain cellular architectural changes by quantifying features such as brain cell bodies' density, volume, and average distance to the nearest cell. Hence, it may assist in longitudinal studies of microstructural tissue alteration in aging, injury, or disease in a living rodent brain.
光学相干断层扫描（OCT）允许对生物组织的精细结构进行无标记、微米级别的 3D 成像，具有显著的深度和大视场。在这里，我们介绍了一种新的基于 OCT 的神经影像学设置，以及一种特征分割算法，该算法能够快速、准确地对小鼠皮层进行高分辨率的活体成像，深度达 700μm。我们使用商用的 OCT 设备，通过皮层柱展示了微结构元素的 3D 重建。我们的系统能够以微米级分辨率在体内检测到结构和细胞的变化，例如损伤或疾病引起的变化。因此，它可以作为一种可视化和量化时空大脑弹性模式的工具。这个高度变革性和多功能的平台可以通过量化脑细胞体的密度、体积和到最近细胞的平均距离等特征，准确地研究大脑细胞结构的变化。因此，它可能有助于在活体啮齿动物大脑中对衰老、损伤或疾病过程中微观组织改变进行纵向研究。
