Gong Zhaoyu, Shi Yaping, Liu Jian, Zhang Yi, Johnstone Murray A, Wang Ruikang K
Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
Biomed Opt Express. 2024 Dec 23;16(1):267-281. doi: 10.1364/BOE.544521. eCollection 2025 Jan 1.
The motion of the trabecular meshwork (TM) facilitates the aqueous drainage from the anterior chamber to the venous system, thereby maintaining normal intraocular pressure. As such, characterizing the TM motion is valuable for assessing the functionality of the aqueous outflow system, as demonstrated by previous phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT) studies. Current methods typically acquire motion from a single cross-sectional plane along the circumference of the anterior chamber. While effective, the lateral scan pattern only intersects one spatial location on the TM at a time, significantly limiting examination throughput. In this study, we introduce the first volumetric imaging approach for assessing TM motion. Rather than monitoring a single cross-sectional plane, our method employs repeated volumetric scans, allowing for simultaneous observation of a continuous TM band spanning two millimeters. We also show that the field of view could be further expanded by stitching multiple scans. To ensure robust data processing, we developed a customized volume registration algorithm to correct motion artifacts and an automated segmentation algorithm to identify the TM boundary based on the correlation of OCT phase dynamics with heartbeats. Imaging results from a healthy subject confirmed the feasibility of our approach, revealing considerable variation in TM motions at different spatial locations through the stitching process. This proposed methodology offers unprecedented capabilities and examination throughput in the biomechanical imaging of the TM, providing significant scientific insights and diagnostic value for identifying abnormalities in aqueous outflow.
小梁网（TM）的运动有助于房水从前房引流至静脉系统，从而维持正常眼压。因此，如先前的相敏光学相干断层扫描（OCT）研究所示，表征TM运动对于评估房水流出系统的功能具有重要价值。当前的方法通常沿着前房圆周从单个横截面获取运动信息。虽然有效，但横向扫描模式一次仅与TM上的一个空间位置相交，显著限制了检查通量。在本研究中，我们引入了第一种用于评估TM运动的容积成像方法。我们的方法不是监测单个横截面，而是采用重复的容积扫描，从而能够同时观察跨越两毫米的连续TM带。我们还表明，通过拼接多次扫描可以进一步扩大视野。为确保稳健的数据处理，我们开发了一种定制的容积配准算法来校正运动伪影，并开发了一种自动分割算法，以基于OCT相位动态与心跳的相关性来识别TM边界。来自健康受试者的成像结果证实了我们方法的可行性，通过拼接过程揭示了不同空间位置TM运动的显著差异。这种提出的方法在TM的生物力学成像中提供了前所未有的能力和检查通量，为识别房水流出异常提供了重要的科学见解和诊断价值。
