Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 13, 2026
07:12
Evaluation of Cerebral Blood Flow Autoregulation in the Rat Using Laser Doppler Flowmetry
Published on: January 19, 2020
10.0K
Longitudinal Changes in Optic Nerve Head Blood Flow in Normal Rats Evaluated by Laser Speckle Flowgraphy
Yasushi Wada1, Tomomi Higashide2, Atsushi Nagata1
1Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Japan 2Ophthalmology, National Hospital Organization Kanazawa Medical Center, Kanazawa, Japan.
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
|October 22, 2016
Summary
Mean blur rate (MBR) in rat optic nerve heads increases until 19 weeks and then stabilizes. Laser speckle flowgraphy-Micro reliably tracks these longitudinal blood flow changes, showing regional differences.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Physiology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Optic nerve head (ONH) blood flow is crucial for ocular health.
- Longitudinal assessment of ONH hemodynamics is challenging.
- Laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) offers a non-invasive method to measure blood flow.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate longitudinal changes in mean blur rate (MBR) in the rat ONH using LSFG.
- To assess the reproducibility of MBR measurements over time.
- To evaluate LSFG-Micro's reliability for tracking ONH blood flow dynamics.
Main Methods:
- MBR was measured using LSFG-Micro in rats from 10 to 60 weeks of age.
- Measurements included total area (MA), vessel region (MV), and tissue region (MT) MBR.
- Intrasession and intersession repeatability and reproducibility of MBR were evaluated.
Main Results:
- MBR (MA, MV, MT) increased significantly from 10 to 19 weeks, then stabilized until 60 weeks.
- Intrasession repeatability (0.3-6.2%) and reproducibility (1.3-5.2%) were good; intersession reproducibility was lower (5.8-30.4%).
- The inferior ONH quadrant showed significantly higher MBR than the temporal quadrant from 19 to 55 weeks.
Conclusions:
- Rat ONH MBR exhibits significant longitudinal changes, stabilizing after 19 weeks.
- LSFG-Micro provides reliable data for longitudinal ONH blood flow evaluation.
- Regional differences in ONH blood flow (inferior vs. temporal) were observed.
