In vivo imaging of stimulus-evoked intrinsic optical signals correlated with retinal activation in anesthetized frog

摘要

Intrinsic optical signal imaging (IOS) promises a noninvasive method for high resolution examination of retinal function. Using freshly isolated animal retinas, we have conducted a series of experiments to test fast IOSs which have time courses comparable to electrophysiological kinetics. In this article, we demonstrate the feasibility of in vivo imaging of fast IOSs correlated with retinal activation in anesthetized frog {Rana Pipiens). A rapid (68,000 lines/s) line-scan confocal ophthalmoscope was constructed to achieve high-speed (200 frames/s) near infared (NIR) recording of fast IOSs. By rejecting out-of-focus background light, the line-scan confocal imager provided enough resolution to differentiate individual photoreceptors in vivo. With visible light stimulation, NIR confocal images disclosed transient IOSs with time courses comparable to retinal ERG kinetics. High-resolution IOS images revealed both positive (increasing) and negative (decreasing) light responses, with sub-cellular complexity, in the activated retina.