Visualizing and mapping the cerebellum with serial optical coherence scanner

Abstract

Abstract. We present the visualization of the mouse cerebellum and adjacent brainstem using a serial optical coherence scanner, which integrates a vibratome slicer and polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography for ex vivo imaging. The scanner provides intrinsic optical contrasts to distinguish the cerebellar cortical layers and white matter. Images from serial scans reveal the large-scale anatomy in detail and map the nerve fiber pathways in the cerebellum and brainstem. By incorporating a water-immersion microscope objective, we also present high-resolution tiled images that delineate fine structures in the cerebellum and brainstem.

Optical coefficients as tools for increasing the optical coherence tomography contrast for normal brain visualization and glioblastoma detection

“…17 For fiber tracking/quantification of the fiber orientation, polarization sensitive OCM and PS-OCT provide suitable technology because the myelinated fibers exhibit birefringence. [18][19][20][21] Crosspolarization OCT (CP OCT) is a variant of PS OCT that allows the visualization of crosspolarization and copolarization scattering simultaneously. CP OCT can be used both for myelin fiber mapping and better brain tumor margin detection due to its additional sensitivity to cross-scattering together with backscattering and birefringence.…”

Image-based multiscale mechanical modeling shows the importance of structural heterogeneity in the human lumbar facet capsular ligament

“…Polarization-sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) (De Boer et al 1997), however, can provide retardance and optic axis orientation contrasts that originate from tissue anisotropy (birefringence), in a noninvasive reflectance-based image. PS-OCT has been used previously to study the structure of various birefringent biological tissues, including bone (De Boer et al 1999), brain (Wang et al 2011, 2014; Liu et al 2017), and lumbar FCL (Claeson et al 2015). The collagen fiber organization in the ligament can be assessed by retardance and optic axis orientation contrast from PS-OCT.…”

A Review of Intrinsic Optical Imaging Serial Blockface Histology (ICI-SBH) for Whole Rodent Brain Imaging

“…Some of the variability has been attributed to light shadowing effects of dense fiber structures traversed by the sampling beam and to other protocols and human-related factors [86]. A similar study performed in the cerebellum showed that a polarization-sensitive OCT signal can be used to distinguish between the molecular layer, the granular layer, and the white matter fibers [137]. To confirm the myelin origin of CARS signals, brain tissue slices were labeled with a lipophilic fluorescent dye and imaged with TPEFm [20].…”