In vivo, dual-modality imaging of mouse eyes: optical coherence tomography and photoacoustic microscopy within a single instrument

Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) provides superb optical absorption contrast for red blood cells (RBCs), which makes it ideal for in vivo microvasculature imaging. In comparison, optical coherence tomography (OCT), widely used for tissue microstructure imaging, provides high optical scattering contrast. The two contrast mechanisms are highly complementary. In this work, we combined OR-PAM and OCT into a single, dual-modality imaging instrument for in vivo mouse eye imaging. We demonstrated in vivo dual-modality imaging of the anterior segment of mouse eyes with laser pulse energy within the ANSI laser safety standard.