Reflective confocal laser scanning microscopy and nonlinear microscopy of cross-linked rabbit cornea

Abstract

Cross-linking of the cornea with application of Ribovlavin and UV-A light is an evolving clinical treatment of the eye disease keratoconus. Despite the positive clinical track record of corneal cross-linking, the complex wound healing process after the treatment is still under investigation. In this study an animal model was used to clarify the state of wound healing 5 weeks after treatment. Cross-linked rabbit corneae were imaged with reflective confocal laser scanning and nonlinear microscopy, namely second harmonic imaging microscopy (SHIM) and two-photon excited autofluorescence. First results show that the NAD(P)H-autofluorescence of the corneal keratocytes and their scattering signal still show a signature of the treatment five weeks after the cross-linking procedure. The SHIM signals show the structural morphology of the fibrous collagen sheets in the stroma of the cornea. SHIM detected in the forward direction differs substantially from backward SHIM, but no signature of treatment was found in both detection channels of the SHIM signal.