Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026

Deep Vascular Imaging in the Eye with Flow-Enhanced Ultrasound
Published on: October 4, 2021
Visualization of the conventional outflow pathway in the living human eye
Larry Kagemann1, Gadi Wollstein, Hiroshi Ishikawa
1Department of Ophthalmology, UPMC Eye Center, Eye and Ear Institute, Ophthalmology and Visual Science Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Purpose:
We sought to visualize the aqueous outflow system in 3 dimensions (3D) in living human eyes, and to investigate the use of commercially available spectral-domain optical coherence tomographic (SD-OCT) systems for this purpose.
Design:
Prospective, observational study.
Participants:
One randomly determined eye in each of 6 normal healthy subjects was included.
Testing:
We performed 3D SD-OCT imaging of the aqueous humor outflow structures with 2 devices: The Cirrus HD-OCT and the Bioptigen SDOIS.
Main Outcome Measures:
We created 3D virtual castings of Schlemm's canal (SC) and more distal outflow structures from scan data from each device.
Results:
Virtual casting of the SC provided visualization of more aqueous vessels branching from SC than could be located by interrogating the 2-dimensional (2D) image stack. Similarly, virtual casting of distal structures allowed visualization of large and small aqueous outflow channel networks that could not be appreciated with conventional 2D visualization.
Conclusions:
The outflow pathways from SC to the superficial vasculature can be identified and tracked in living human eyes using commercially available SD-OCT.
Related Concept Videos
Vision
Visual System
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Anatomy of the Eyeball
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Accessory Structures of the Eye
Glaucoma: Overview
