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Biometric measurement of the mouse eye using optical coherence tomography with focal plane advancement.

Zhou X, Xie J, Shen M, Wang J, Jiang L, Qu J, Lu F

School of Optometry and Ophthalmology and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical College, 270 Xueyuan Road, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325003, China; State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base and Key Laboratory of Vision Science, Ministry of Health PR China and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Optometry, 270 Xueyuan Road, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325003, China.

Purpose: To demonstrate that high-resolution biometry is possible in mouse eyes in vivo, using real-time OCT with focal plane advancement by a stepper motor. Methods: OCT images of eyes were taken from nine 29-day-old C57BL/6 mice(18 eyes) on two consecutive days. A custom-built real-time OCT instrument with a stepper motor was used to advance the focal plane from the corneal apex to the retina along the ocular axis. The ocular dimensions were determined by advancement of the stepper motor as it displayed on the OCT scan images. Results: OCT images of the entire eye, including the cornea, anterior chamber, lens, vitreous chamber, and retina, were successfully obtained from both eyes of all mice. The measured average corneal thickness from 18 eyes at the age of 29 days was 90.8+/-4.6mum, anterior chamber depth 707.4+/-21.4mum, lens thickness 1558.7+/-18.0mum, vitreous chamber depth 707.4+/-21.4mum and retinal thickness was 186.9+/-15.1mum. Total axial length (from the corneal apex to the nerve fiber layer of the retina) was 3003.3+/-44.1mum. None of them were significantly different if measured on two consecutive days, and no significant differences were found between measurements in the left and right eyes. Conclusion: By focal plane advancement of a real-time OCT instrument through the mouse eye, highly repeatable measurements of the ocular dimensions were obtained. This novel method may be used to study small animal models of normal and abnormal eye development.

Published 14 April 2008 in Vision Res, 48(9): 1137-1143.
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