In Vivo Contactless, Cellular-Resolution Imaging of the Healthy and Pathological Human Limbus With 250-kHz...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Imaging
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Limbal stem cell dysfunction (LSCD) is a sight-threatening condition.
• Accurate diagnosis and monitoring of LSCD are crucial for effective treatment.
• Current imaging techniques may lack the resolution to visualize fine limbal morphology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the capability of ultra-high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for in vivo imaging of human limbal morphology.
• To evaluate the system's potential in differentiating healthy and pathological limbi.

Main Methods:

• Development of a compact, fiberoptic SD-OCT system with ~1.5-µm isotropic spatial resolution and 250,000 A-scans/second acquisition rate.
• Utilized flexible imaging probes with interchangeable microscope objectives for variable field of view and resolution.
• Clinical evaluation involved imaging healthy controls (n=6) and LSCD subjects (n=4).

Main Results:

• Healthy limbi showed clear visualization of limbal crypts, palisades of Vogt (POVs), and vasculature.
• LSCD subjects exhibited distorted or absent POVs, conjunctival invasion, epithelial thinning, scarring, and neovascularization.
• SD-OCT successfully captured fine morphological details in both healthy and pathological conditions.

Conclusions:

• High-resolution SD-OCT enables detailed in vivo visualization of limbal microstructures.
• The technology offers precise diagnosis, grading, and monitoring of LSCD.
• This imaging approach can significantly aid in treatment planning and evaluation for LSCD patients.