Using ultrahigh sensitive optical microangiography to achieve comprehensive depth resolved microvasculature mapping...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Retinal microvasculature imaging is crucial for diagnosing eye diseases.
• Traditional optical microangiography (OMAG) systems are susceptible to motion artifacts.
• High-resolution, depth-resolved imaging of retinal vasculature remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an ultrahigh sensitive optical microangiography (UHS-OMAG) system.
• To introduce a novel phase compensation algorithm for motion artifact reduction.
• To demonstrate the system's capability for in vivo human retinal microvasculature imaging.

Main Methods:

• Development of a UHS-OMAG system with a high-speed line scan CMOS camera (240 kHz A-line rate).
• Implementation of a repeated phase compensation algorithm to minimize motion artifacts.
• In vivo experiments using two imaging protocols: wide field-of-view (16 μm resolution) and narrow field-of-view (5 μm resolution).

Main Results:

• The UHS-OMAG system achieved comprehensive and depth-resolved retinal microvasculature images.
• The new phase compensation algorithm demonstrated 8 to 25 times higher motion tolerability compared to traditional methods.
• High-quality imaging was achieved with both low lateral resolution/wide field-of-view and high lateral resolution/narrow field-of-view protocols.

Conclusions:

• The developed UHS-OMAG system offers superior performance for retinal microvasculature imaging.
• The enhanced motion artifact reduction is critical for clinical applicability.
• UHS-OMAG presents a promising noninvasive alternative for diagnosing vascular eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.