Senée Pierre, Krafft Léa, Loukili Inès, Castro Farias Daniela, Thouvenin Olivier, Atlan Michael, Paques Michel, Meimon Serge, Mecê Pedro
Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, CNRS, PSL University, Paris, France.
DOTA, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay, F-91123 Palaiseau, France.
Sci Adv. 2025 Jun 27;11(26):eadx2941. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adx2941.
Neurovascular coupling (NVC) regulates local blood flow in response to neuronal activity, yet its precise characterization at the capillary level has been hindered by the lack of a noninvasive, high-resolution imaging method. Here, we introduce the adaptive optics rolling slit ophthalmoscope, a unique noninvasive, label-free, high-speed, cellular-resolution clinical imaging system for assessing retinal NVC in the living human eye. Using an off-axis phase contrast approach combined with camera-based confocal slit gating, our method provides large field-of-view imaging of arterial and venular walls, enabling the study of vascular dynamics with unprecedented spatiotemporal precision. Our findings highlight that this level of precision is essential for accurately distinguishing NVC-driven vasodilation from spontaneous fluctuations, such as vasomotion and the cardiac cycle. By bridging the gap between fundamental neurovascular research and clinical applications, this approach offers a powerful tool for neuroscience research and early disease detection and monitoring of neurodegenerative and vascular disorders.
神经血管耦合（NVC）可根据神经元活动调节局部血流，但由于缺乏非侵入性、高分辨率成像方法，其在毛细血管水平的精确表征受到了阻碍。在此，我们介绍了自适应光学滚动狭缝检眼镜，这是一种独特的非侵入性、无标记、高速、细胞分辨率的临床成像系统，用于评估活体人眼中的视网膜NVC。通过将离轴相衬方法与基于相机的共焦狭缝选通相结合，我们的方法可提供动脉和静脉壁的大视野成像，从而以前所未有的时空精度研究血管动力学。我们的研究结果表明，这种精度水平对于准确区分NVC驱动的血管舒张与自发波动（如血管运动和心动周期）至关重要。通过弥合基础神经血管研究与临床应用之间的差距，这种方法为神经科学研究以及神经退行性和血管疾病的早期疾病检测与监测提供了一个强大的工具。
