RETINAL NERVE FIBER LAYER REFLECTANCE MECHANISMS

青光眼和其他视神经疾病的诊断和治疗 神经需要灵敏的方法来检测和测量神经损伤。 视网膜神经纤维 静态视觉灵敏度的测量 视神经盘状况的视野检查和检眼镜评估 目前在临床实践中使用，但用于评估的新方法 视网膜的神经纤维层正在发育。 所有此类 方法依赖于神经纤维层与光的相互作用 我过去常常观察它，但很少有定量数据描述这一点。 互动 此外，光和神经 纤维相互作用是未知的。 研究的长期目标 在本申请中提出的是提供全面的定量分析， 神经纤维层的光学性质的描述 视网膜，并建立其反射率的解剖学基础。 实现这一目标将提供一个坚实的基础， 可以开发用于评估神经纤维层的方法， 获得的知识可能会导致全新的方法。 这个项目的具体目标是：1）检验假设， NFL反射率的主要成分（波长短于560 nm）出现 由薄的圆柱形细胞器（可能是微管）散射的光 的神经轴突和反射在长波长（>560 nm）的结果 从第二种机制和2）测试假设，神经纤维层 反射率与神经纤维层厚度成比例。 神经纤维层反射率将在体内通过定向测量来测量。 成像反射计和体外成像显微反射计， 确定短波长反射光是否表现出光学 属性，并查看 第二光谱分量可以通过各种操作来揭示。 然后，神经纤维层的反射测量研究区域将经历 通过光学和电子显微镜进行形态测定分析，以确定 存在的神经纤维组织的量，并量化细胞 神经中的细胞器（微管、神经丝和细胞膜） 轴突

The diagnosis and management of glaucoma and other disorders of the optic nerve require sensitive methods for detecting and measuring damage to the retinal nerve fibers. Measurement of visual sensitivity with static perimetry and ophthalmoscopic assessment of the condition of the optic disc are currently used in clinical practice, but newer methods for assessing the nerve fiber layer of the retina directly are being developed. All such methods depend on the interaction of the nerve fiber layer with the light used to observe it, but there is little quantitative data describing this interaction. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which light and the nerve fibers interact are unknown. The long-term objective of the research proposed in this application is to provide a comprehensive quantitative description of the optical properties of the nerve fiber layer of the retina, and to establish the anatomical basis for its reflectance. AChieving this objective will provide a solid foundation upon which all methods for assessing the nerve fiber layer can be developed, and the knowledge gained may lead to totally new approaches. The specific aims of this project are to 1) test the hypothesis that the major component of NFL reflectance (wavelengths shorter than 560 nm) arises from light scattered by thin, cylindrical organelles (perhaps microtubules) of nerve axons and that reflectance at long wavelengths (>560 nm) results from a second mechanism and 2) test the hypothesis that nerve fiber layer reflectance is proportional to nerve fiber layer thickness. Nerve fiber layer reflectance will be measured in vivo by directional imaging reflectometry and in vitro by imaging microreflectometry to determine if short-wavelength reflected light exhibits the optical properties expected of reflections from this cylinders and to see if a second spectral component can be revealed by various manipulations. Reflectometrically studied areas of nerve fiber layer will then undergo morphometric analyses by light and electron microscopy to determine the amount of nerve fiber tissue present and to quantify the cellular organelles (microtubules, neurofilaments, and cell membranes) in the nerve axons.