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Updated: Aug 24, 2026
A Custom Multiphoton Microscopy Platform for Live Imaging of Mouse Cornea and Conjunctiva
Published on: May 17, 2020
White-light and laser confocal microscopic findings of rabbit conjunctiva
Akira Kobayashi1, Tsuyoshi Yoshita, Kazuhisa Sugiyama
1Department of Ophthalmology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Ishikawa-prefecture, Japan.
Background And Objective:
To report laser and white-light confocal microscopic findings of ex vivo rabbit conjunctiva to investigate the potential application of these confocal microscopes as diagnostic devices for normal and pathologic conjunctiva.
Materials And Methods:
Three male albino rabbits were killed and six eyeballs were removed with as much bulbar conjunctiva as possible. The bulbar conjunctiva approximately 5 mm away from the limbus was then subjected to an ex vivo laser and white-light confocal microscopic analysis.
Results:
Using laser confocal microscopy, conjunctival epithelial cells, subepithelial conjunctival vessels, and sclera were clearly observed. By contrast, white-light confocal microscopy yielded images of conjunctival epithelium, subepithelial layers, and sclera that were not clearly defined.
Conclusions:
This study indicates that laser confocal microscopy has a superior ability to visualize ex vivo, non-fixed conjunctiva when compared with white-light confocal microscopy. It also suggests that the laser confocal microscope might be a useful, non-invasive, in vivo, "quasi-cytological" device for observing and diagnosing the conjunctival condition in humans.
