Visualization of retinal ganglion cells ex vivo using full-field optical coherence tomography

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Full-held optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) using Halogen lamp was evaluated a vivo in pig eye cups. Effects of varying band widths of light source, fields of view and numbers of CCD pixel on imaging performance of retina were compared_ We fund a best setting composing 120 nm band width, 850 μm x850 μm, and 500 x 500 pixels of CCD for imaging retinal cellular structures from clinical point of view. The 120 nm band width gives a 2μm of axial resolution. In this setting, retinal ganglion cells were depicted as round hyporeflective spots. In addition, nerve fiber bindles were depicted in the retinal nerve fiber layer. Next, we tried to reconstruct 3-dimensional images by using volume rendering technique on serial OCT sections. The retinal ganglion cells were depicted hyporeflective balls. In addition, fiber-like structures were visualized in the retinal nerve fiber layer. Retinal ganglion cells are distributed in the 3-dimensional space. Therefore, it is impossible to count the number of retinal ganglion cells by using single sections. The 3-dimensional visualization of retinal ganglion cells allow for counting their numbers. The current OCT technology allows measurement of thickness of retinal nerve fiber layer. However, measurement of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness has the risk that the space in which retinal nerve fiber bundles are lost are also measured. Visualization of nerve fiber bundles by FF-OCT allows measurement of only the actual amount of nerve fiber bundles. Thus, FF-OCT at our setting opens a new avenue to study glaucomatous damage on retinal ganglion cells and nerve fiber bundles. If this technology works in live human eyes, it would make an epoch-making progress in the diagnosis of glaucoma. Our results give evidence supporting the motivation that clinical application of FF-OCT technology.