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Mapping the human parafoveal vascular network to understand flow variability in capillaries
Srividya Neriyanuri1, Phillip Bedggood1, R C Andrew Symons1,2,3,4
1Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Plos One
|October 13, 2023
Summary
Capillary flow in the retina is variable. Network structure, like vessel branching and distance from feeding arterioles, significantly impacts flow, not vessel depth. This helps understand healthy and diseased states.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Biomedical Engineering
- Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Capillary flow is heterogenous and variable over time.
- Local vessel properties offer limited explanation for flow variability.
- Network-level properties may influence capillary flow dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the association between network-level properties and capillary flow.
- Explore factors like vessel depth, branch order, and distance from feeding arterioles.
- Understand the contribution of capillary network topology to flow variability.
Main Methods:
- Flood-illuminated adaptive optics retinal imaging in 3 healthy subjects.
- Optical coherence tomography angiography for axial vessel depth.
- Network connectivity analysis and modeling of vessel junctions.
Main Results:
- Junction exponent inversely related to average and trough velocity in downstream vessels (r = -0.59, p = 0.015; r = -0.67, p = 0.004).
- Minimum capillary velocity correlated with distance to upstream feeding arteriole (r = 0.46, p = 0.009).
- Vessel depth did not significantly affect flow, but network topology did.
Conclusions:
- Capillary network topology significantly contributes to retinal capillary flow variability in humans.
- Understanding healthy capillary flow heterogeneity is crucial for studying pathological states.
- Upstream feeder distance and downstream vessel junction exponents influence capillary flow.
