Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: A Three-dimensional Analytical Framework for Retinal Microvasculature Reveals Layer-associated Vulnerability in Development and Neovascular Remodeling
doi: 10.64898/2026.03.16.711909
Figure Lengend Snippet: (a) Retinal vasculature segmentation. High-resolution two-photon excitation microscopy Z-stacks spanning the choroid (Ch) and the neurosensory retina (Rt) were acquired. The volumetric data were segmented to generate three-dimensional representations for analysis. (b) Whole-structure vascular quantification. Global analyses of vessel morphology and network architecture were performed across the entire vascular volume or within user-defined regions of interest. Quantified parameters include vessel length, diameter, branching angle, tortuosity, vessel volume density, branching topology, network connectivity, and fractal dimension. (c) Plexus-resolved analyses. The retinal vasculature was separated into the superficial layer (SL), middle layer (ML), and deep layer (DL) vascular plexuses. Plexus-specific quantification was then performed to characterize layer-dependent vascular architecture. (d) Inter-plexus connectivity and parallelism. Cross-plexus relationships were analyzed by characterizing direct inter-plexus connections between SL, ML, and DL and assessing deviation in inter-plexus parallelism.
Article Snippet: Labeled eye specimens were mounted in 1% agarose and imaged using a custom two-photon excited fluorescence microscope (modified Bergamo II, ThorLabs) using 1238 nm excitation light (Insight X3, SpectraPhysics) and a high numerical aperture water-dipping lens (Nikon 25× Apo LWD, 1.10 NA, 2.0 mm WD; THN25X-APO-MP1300) to acquire image data with subcellular resolution.
Techniques: Microscopy