Publication Date
9-1-2020
Journal
Journal of Biomedical Optics
DOI
10.1117/1.JBO.25.9.090502
PMID
32981240
PMCID
PMC7519206
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
9-26-2020
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Animals, Mice, Microscopy, N-Methylaspartate, Retina, Retinal Ganglion Cells, Vision, Ocular
Abstract
SIGNIFICANCE: The retina is critical for vision, and several diseases may alter its biomechanical properties. However, assessing the biomechanical properties of the retina nondestructively is a challenge due to its fragile nature and location within the eye globe. Advancements in Brillouin spectroscopy have provided the means for nondestructive investigations of retina biomechanical properties.
AIM: We assessed the biomechanical properties of mouse retinas using Brillouin microscopy noninvasively and showed the potential of Brillouin microscopy to differentiate the type and layers of retinas based on stiffness.
APPROACH: We used Brillouin microscopy to quantify stiffness of fresh and paraformaldehyde (PFA)-fixed retinas. As further proof-of-concept, we demonstrated a change in the stiffness of a retina with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced damage, compared to an undamaged sample.
RESULTS: We found that the retina layers with higher cell body density had higher Brillouin modulus compared to less cell-dense layers. We have also demonstrated that PFA-fixed retina samples were stiffer compared with fresh samples. Further, NMDA-induced neurotoxicity leads to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death and reactive gliosis, increasing the stiffness of the RGC layer.
CONCLUSION: Brillouin microscopy can be used to characterize the stiffness distribution of the layers of the retina and can be used to differentiate tissue at different conditions based on biomechanical properties.
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