Human Foveal Cone and Müller Cells Examined by Adaptive Optics Optical Coherence Tomography

The purpose of this study was to image and investigate the foveal microstructure of human cone and Müller cells using adaptive optics-optical coherence tomography.

Six healthy subjects underwent the prototype adaptive optics-optical coherence tomography imaging, which allowed an axial resolution of 3.4 µm and a transverse resolution of approximately 3 µm. The morphological features of the individual retinal cells observed in the foveola were qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated.

In the six healthy subjects, the image B-scans showed hyper-reflective dots that were densely packed in the outer nuclear layer. The mean number, diameter, and density of hyper-reflective dots in the foveola were 250.8 ± 59.6, 12.7 ± 59.6 µm, and 6966 ± 1833/mm2, respectively. These qualitative and quantitative findings regarding the hyper-reflective dots were markedly consistent with the morphological features of the foveal cone cell nuclei. Additionally, the images showed the funnel-shaped hyporeflective bodies running vertically and obliquely between the inner and external limiting membranes, illustrating the cell morphology of the foveal Müller cells.

Using adaptive optics, we succeeded in visualizing cross-sectional images of the individual cone and Müller cells of the human retina in vivo.

Adaptive optics-optical coherence tomography would help to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of macular diseases.