Clinical multimodal Brillouin microscopy-optical coherence elastography system for lens biomechanics

Estimating biomechanical properties of the in vivo crystalline lens remains a challenge and is a barrier to evaluating novel lens softening therapies. There is a need to estimate quantitative biomechanical properties of the human anterior and mid segments of the eye in vivo for conditions such as presbyopia.

We aim to develop a multimodal elastography device that enables high-performance sequential 3D imaging with both Brillouin microscopy and optical coherence elastography (OCE).

We combined Brillouin spectroscopy and OCE on a modified slit lamp platform for human measurements. The multimodal system was first characterized and then tested on both a porcine eye and a human subject.

Both OCE and Brillouin microscopy were characterized at peak operating performance for clinical imaging. Successful measurements of an in situ porcine lens and a human in vivo lens are reported.

We demonstrated the first successful multimodal OCE and Brillouin microscopy measurement in a human subject. This instrument offers the potential to characterize the biomechanical status of presbyopia with age.