Investigation of the effect of directional (off-axis) illumination on the reflectivity of retina layers in mice using swept-source optical coherence tomography

Changes in visibility of the Henle fiber layer and photoreceptor bands of the human retina with illumination directionality have been reported in OCT clinical imaging. These are a direct consequence of the changes in back scattering due to fibrous tissue orientation and to waveguiding properties of the photoreceptors respectively. Here we report the preliminary results of a study on the effects of retinal images acquired with OCT of illumination directionality in the mouse retina. The quantitative assessment of the reflectivity of retinal layers of a BALB/c and WT pigmented mice was performed in-vivo using a swept-source optical coherence tomography system. The intensities of backscattered signals from different outer retinal layers were measured and compared.