Neuropathological hallmarks in the post-mortem retina of neurodegenerative diseases.

The retina is increasingly recognised as a potential source of biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. Hallmark protein aggregates in the retinal neuronal tissue could be imaged through light non-invasively. Post-mortem studies have already shown the presence of specific hallmark proteins in Alzheimer's disease, primary tauopathies, synucleinopathies and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. This study aims to assess proteinopathy in a post-mortem cohort with different neurodegenerative diseases and assess the presence of the primary pathology in the retina. Post-mortem eyes were collected in collaboration with the Netherlands Brain Bank from donors with Alzheimer's disease (n = 17), primary tauopathies (n = 8), synucleinopathies (n = 27), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (n = 8), mixed pathology (n = 11), other neurodegenerative diseases (n = 6), and cognitively normal controls (n = 25). Multiple cross sections of the retina and optic nerve tissue were immunostained using antibodies against pTau Ser202/Thr205 (AT8), amyloid-beta (4G8), alpha-synuclein (LB509), pTDP-43 Ser409/410 and p62-lck ligand (p62) and were assessed for the presence of aggregates and inclusions. pTau pathology was observed as a diffuse signal in Alzheimer's disease, primary tauopathies and controls with Alzheimer's disease neuropathological changes. Amyloid-beta was observed in the vessel wall and as cytoplasmic granular deposits in all groups. Alpha-synuclein pathology was observed as Lewy neurites in the retina in synucleinopathies associated with Lewy pathology and as oligodendroglial cytoplasmic inclusions in the optic nerve in multiple system atrophy. Anti-pTDP-43 generally showed typical neuronal cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in cases with frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 and also in cases with later stages of limbic-associated TDP-43 encephalopathy. P62 showed inclusion bodies similar to those seen with anti-pTDP-43. Furthermore, pTau and alpha-synuclein pathology were significantly associated with increasing Braak stages for neurofibrillary tangles and Lewy bodies, respectively. Mixed pathology cases in this cohort consisted of cases (n = 6) with high Braak LB stages (> 4) and low or moderate AD pathology, high AD pathology (n = 1, Braak NFT 6, Thal phase 5) with moderate LB pathology, or a combination of low/moderate scores for different pathology scores in the brain (n = 4). There were no cases with advanced co-pathologies. In seven cases with Braak LB ≥ 4, LB pathology was observed in the retina, while tau pathology in the retina in the mixed pathology group (n = 11) could not be observed. From this study, we conclude that the retina reflects the presence of the major hallmark proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Although low or moderate levels of copathology were found in the brains of most cases, the retina primarily manifested protein aggregates associated with the main neurodegenerative disease. These findings indicate that with appropriate retinal imaging techniques, retinal biomarkers have the potential to become highly accurate indicators for diagnosing the major neurodegenerative diseases of the brain.

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography and scleral collagen fiber orientation in osteogenesis imperfecta.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic connective tissue disorder, primarily arises from pathogenic variants affecting the production or structure of collagen type I. In addition to skeletal fragility, individuals with OI may face an increased risk of developing ophthalmic diseases. This association is believed to stem from the widespread presence of collagen type I throughout various parts of the eye. However, the precise consequences of abnormal collagen type I on different ocular tissues remain unknown. Of particular significance is the sclera, where collagen type I is abundant and crucial for maintaining the structural integrity of the eye. Recent research on healthy individuals has uncovered a unique organizational pattern of collagen fibers within the sclera, characterized by fiber arrangement in both circular and radial layers around the optic nerve head. While the precise function of this organizational pattern remains unclear, it is hypothesized to play a role in providing mechanical support to the optic nerve. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of abnormal collagen type I on the sclera by assessing the fiber organization near the optic nerve head in individuals with OI and comparing them to healthy individuals. Collagen fiber orientation of the sclera was measured using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT), an extension of the conventional OCT that is sensitive to materials that exhibit birefringence (axial changes in light refraction). Birefringence was quantified and used as imaging contrast to extract collagen fiber orientation as well as the thickness of the radially oriented scleral layer. Three individuals with OI, exhibiting different degrees of disease severity, were assessed and analyzed, along with seventeen healthy individuals. Mean values obtained from individuals with OI were descriptively compared to those of the healthy participant group. PS-OCT revealed a similar orientation pattern of scleral collagen fibers around the optic nerve head between OI individuals and healthy individuals. However, two OI participants exhibited reduced mean birefringence of the radially oriented scleral layer compared to the healthy participant group (OI participant 1 oculus dexter et sinister (ODS): 0.34 °/µm, OI participant 2: ODS 0.26 °/µm, OI participant 3: OD: 0.29 °/µm, OS: 0.28 °/µm, healthy participants: ODS 0.38 ± 0.05 °/µm).The radially oriented scleral layer was thinner in all OI participants although within ±2 standard deviations of the mean observed in healthy individuals (OI participant 1 OD: 101 µm, OS 104 µm, OI participant 2: OD 97 µm, OS 98 µm, OI participant 3: OD: 94 µm, OS 120 µm, healthy participants: OD 122.8 ± 13.6 µm, OS 120.8 ± 15.1 µm). These findings imply abnormalities in collagen organization or composition, underscoring the necessity for additional research to comprehend the ocular phenotype in OI.

Sub-diffraction computational imaging via a flexible multicore-multimode fiber.

An ultra-thin multimode fiber is an ideal platform for minimally invasive microscopy with the advantages of a high density of modes, high spatial resolution, and a compact size. In practical applications, the probe needs to be long and flexible, which unfortunately destroys the imaging capabilities of a multimode fiber. In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate sub-diffraction imaging through a flexible probe based on a unique multicore-multimode fiber. A multicore part consists of 120 Fermat's spiral distributed single-mode cores. Each of the cores offers stable light delivery to the multimode part, which provides optimal structured light illumination for sub-diffraction imaging. As a result, perturbation-resilient fast sub-diffraction fiber imaging by computational compressive sensing is demonstrated.

Field-position dependent apodization in dark-field digital holographic microscopy for semiconductor metrology.

Measuring overlay between two layers of semiconductor devices is a crucial step during electronic chip fabrication. We present dark-field digital holographic microscopy that addresses various overlay metrology challenges that are encountered in the semiconductor industry. We present measurement results that show that the point-spread function of our microscope depends on the position in the field-of-view. We will show that this novel observation can be explained by a combination of the finite bandwidth of the light source and a wavelength-dependent focal length of the imaging lens. Moreover, we will also present additional experimental data that supports our theoretical understanding. Finally, we will propose solutions that reduce this effect to acceptable levels.

Phosphorylated tau in the retina correlates with tau pathology in the brain in Alzheimer's disease and primary tauopathies.

The retina is a potential source of biomarkers for the detection of neurodegenerative diseases. Accumulation of phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in the brain is a pathological feature characteristic for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and primary tauopathies. In this study the presence of p-tau in the retina in relation to tau pathology in the brain was assessed. Post-mortem eyes and brains were collected through the Netherlands Brain Bank from donors with AD (n = 17), primary tauopathies (n = 8), α-synucleinopathies (n = 13), other neurodegenerative diseases including non-tau frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) (n = 9), and controls (n = 15). Retina cross-sections were assessed by immunohistochemistry using antibodies directed against total tau (HT7), 3R and 4R tau isoforms (RD3, RD4), and phospho-epitopes Ser202/Thr205 (AT8), Thr217 (anti-T217), Thr212/Ser214 (AT100), Thr181 (AT270), Ser396 (anti-pS396) and Ser422 (anti-pS422). Retinal tau load was compared to p-tau Ser202/Thr205 and p-tau Thr217 load in various brain regions. Total tau, 3R and 4R tau isoforms were most prominently present in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) and outer plexiform layer (OPL) of the retina and were detected in all cases and controls as a diffuse and somatodendritic signal. Total tau, p-tau Ser202/Thr205 and p-tau Thr217 was observed in amacrine and horizontal cells of the inner nuclear layer (INL). Various antibodies directed against phospho-epitopes of tau showed immunoreactivity in the IPL, OPL, and INL. P-tau Ser202/Thr205 and Thr217 showed significant discrimination between AD and other tauopathies, and non-tauopathy cases including controls. Whilst immunopositivity was observed for p-tau Thr212/Ser214, Thr181 and Ser396, there were no group differences. P-tau Ser422 did not show any immunoreactivity in the retina. The presence of retinal p-tau Ser202/Thr205 and Thr217 correlated with Braak stage for NFTs and with the presence of p-tau Ser202/Thr205 in hippocampus and cortical brain regions. Depending on the phospho-epitope, p-tau in the retina is a potential biomarker for AD and primary tauopathies.

Ultimate resolution limits of speckle-based compressive imaging.

Compressive imaging using sparsity constraints is a very promising field of microscopy that provides a dramatic enhancement of the spatial resolution beyond the Abbe diffraction limit. Moreover, it simultaneously overcomes the Nyquist limit by reconstructing an N-pixel image from less than N single-point measurements. Here we present fundamental resolution limits of noiseless compressive imaging via sparsity constraints, speckle illumination and single-pixel detection. We addressed the experimental setup that uses randomly generated speckle patterns (in a scattering media or a multimode fiber). The optimal number of measurements, the ultimate spatial resolution limit and the surprisingly important role of discretization are demonstrated by the theoretical analysis and numerical simulations. We show that, in contrast to conventional microscopy, oversampling may decrease the resolution and reconstruction quality of compressive imaging.

Aberration calibration and correction with nano-scatterers in digital holographic microscopy for semiconductor metrology.

Overlay metrology measures pattern placement between two layers in a semiconductor chip. The continuous shrinking of device dimensions drives the need to explore novel optical overlay metrology concepts that can address many of the existing metrology challenges. We present a compact dark-field digital holographic microscope that uses only a single imaging lens. Our microscope offers several features that are beneficial for overlay metrology, like a large wavelength range. However, imaging with a single lens results in highly aberrated images. In this work, we present an aberration calibration and correction method using nano-sized point scatterers on a silicon substrate. Computational imaging techniques are used to recover the full wavefront error, and we use this to correct for the lens aberrations. We present measured data to verify the calibration method and we discuss potential calibration error sources that must be considered. A comparison with a ZEMAX calculation is also presented to evaluate the performance of the presented method.

Sensitivity analysis of Raman endoscopy with and without wavefront shaping.

Vibrational spectroscopy is a powerful method for the label-free identification of molecules. Spontaneous Raman spectroscopy integrated with an ultra-thin fiber-based endoscope can provide remote, local, and minimally invasive chemical analysis in many fields from biomedical diagnostics to the materials industry. Miniaturization of the probe in combination with a large field of view (FOV) and high sensitivity would be beneficial for a broad class of applications. Here we quantitatively analyze signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the sensitivity improvement due to wavefront shaping. We show that wavefront shaping in an ultra-thin single-fiber probe allows to decrease the total measurements time up to several orders of magnitude even without any prior knowledge of the Raman particle location. Such a fiber probe is well suited for minimally-invasive endoscopy in biological and medical applications.

Diffraction-based overlay metrology using angular-multiplexed acquisition of dark-field digital holograms.

In semiconductor device manufacturing, optical overlay metrology measures pattern placement between two layers in a chip with sub-nm precision. Continuous improvements in overlay metrology are needed to keep up with shrinking device dimensions in modern chips. We present first overlay metrology results using a novel off-axis dark-field digital holographic microscopy concept that acquires multiple holograms in parallel by angular multiplexing. We show that this concept reduces the impact of source intensity fluctuations on the noise in the measured overlay. With our setup we achieved an overlay reproducibility of 0.13 nm and measurements on overlay targets with known programmed overlay values showed good linearity of R2= 0.9993. Our data show potential for significant improvement and that digital holographic microscopy is a promising technique for future overlay metrology tools.

The search for a unique Raman signature of amyloid-beta plaques in human brain tissue from Alzheimer's disease patients.

Definite Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis is commonly done on ex vivo brain tissue using immuno-histochemical staining to visualize amyloid-beta (Aß) aggregates, also known as Aß plaques. Raman spectroscopy has shown its potential for non-invasive and label-free determination of bio-molecular compositions, aiding the post-mortem diagnosis of pathological tissue. Here, we investigated whether conventional Raman spectroscopy could be used for the detection of amyloid beta deposits in fixed, ex vivo human brain tissue, taken from the frontal cortex region. We examined the spectra and spectral maps of three severe AD cases and two healthy control cases and compared their spectral outcome among each other as well as to recent results in the literature obtained with various spectroscopic techniques. After hyperspectral Raman mapping, Aß plaques were visualized using Thioflavin-S staining on the exact same tissue sections. As a result, we show that tiny diffuse or tangled-like morphological structures, visible under microscopic conditions on unstained tissue and often but erroneously assumed to be deposits of Aß, are instead usually an aggregation of highly auto-fluorescent lipofuscin granulates without any, or limited, plaque or plaque-like association. The occurrence of these auto-fluorescent particles is equally distributed in both AD and healthy control cases. Therefore, they cannot be used as possible criteria for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. Furthermore, a unique plaque-specific/Aß spectrum could not be determined even after possible spectral interferences were carefully removed.

Impact of coherence length on the field of view in dark-field holographic microscopy for semiconductor metrology: theoretical and experimental comparisons.

Semiconductor manufacturers continue to increase the component densities on computer chips by reducing the device dimensions to less than 10 nm. This trend requires faster, more precise, and more robust optical metrology tools that contain complex and high-precision optics with challenging imaging requirements. Here, we present dark-field digital holographic microscopy as a promising optical metrology technique that uses optics with acceptable complexity. A theoretical analysis and an experimental demonstration of this technique are presented, showing the impact of the coherence length of the light source on the field of view. Finally, we also present the first holographically obtained images of metrology targets.

Optic axis uniformity as a metric to improve the contrast of birefringent structures and analyze the retinal nerve fiber layer in polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.

A new metric is used to improve the contrast of birefringent structures in biological tissue using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. This metric, optic axis uniformity (OAxU), is based on the optic axis of birefringence and quantifies the uniformity of the optic axis direction. OAxU provides surprisingly strong contrast for fibrous structures such as muscle and the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). We used OAxU for automatic segmentation of the RNFL in human eyes. From the segmentation, en face images of RNFL thickness and RNFL birefringence were created. The measured birefringence values are consistent with earlier reports.

Treatment Effects in Retinal Angiomatous Proliferation Imaged with OCT Angiography.

PURPOSE: This prospective case series is aimed at exploring optical coherence tomographic angiography (OCT-A) as a treatment monitoring tool in patients treated for retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP). METHODS: Twelve treatment-naïve RAP patients were included, with a median age of 79 years (range 65-90). Patients were imaged with an experimental 1,040-nm swept-source phase-resolved OCT-A instrument before and after treatment. Treatment consisted of either intravitreal bevacizumab or triamcinolone injections with or without photodynamic therapy (PDT). Abnormal blood flow after treatment was graded as increased, unchanged, decreased, or resolved. RESULTS: OCT-A images before and after treatment could be obtained in 9 patients. The median follow-up period was 10 weeks (range 5-19). After various treatments, the RAP lesion resolved in 7 patients, in 1 patient the OCT-A depicted decreased flow in the lesion, and 1 patient showed unchanged abnormal blood flow. Monotherapy with intravitreal bevacizumab injections resolved RAP in 1 out of 2 patients. Combined therapy of bevacizumab with PDT resolved RAP in 6 out of 7 patients. CONCLUSIONS: OCT-A visualized resolution of abnormal blood flow in 7 out of 9 RAP patients after various short-term treatment sequences. OCT-A may become an important noninvasive monitoring tool for optimizing treatment strategies in RAP patients.

Compressive imaging through a multimode fiber.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a new concept of endo-microscopy: compressive multimode (MM) fiber imaging. We show that the speckle patterns generated in a MM fiber represent an excellent basis for compressive sensing. We demonstrate high-resolution compressive imaging through a fiber probe with the total number of measurements 20 times less than what is required for the standard raster scanning approach to endo-microscopy. Moreover, we show that the inherent optical sectioning of a MM fiber can help to overcome the main problem of compressive sensing and can be used for the imaging of bulk structures. Compressive MM fiber imaging does not require complex wavefront shaping and significantly increases the pre-calibration and imaging speed, creating a new approach to endo-microscopy.

Robustness of Light-Transport Processes to Bending Deformations in Graded-Index Multimode Waveguides.

Light transport through a multimode optical waveguide undergoes changes when subjected to bending deformations. We show that optical waveguides with a perfectly parabolic refractive index profile are almost immune to bending, conserving the structure of propagation-invariant modes. Moreover, we show that changes to the transmission matrix of parabolic-index fibers due to bending can be expressed with only two free parameters, regardless of how complex a particular deformation is. We provide detailed analysis of experimentally measured transmission matrices of a commercially available graded-index fiber as well as a gradient-index rod lens featuring a very faithful parabolic refractive index profile. Although parabolic-index fibers with a sufficiently precise refractive index profile are not within our reach, we show that imaging performance with standard commercially available graded-index fibers is significantly less influenced by bending deformations than step-index types under the same conditions. Our work thus predicts that the availability of ultraprecise parabolic-index fibers will make endoscopic applications with flexible probes feasible and free from extremely elaborate computational challenges.

In vivo exploration of retinal nerve fiber layer morphology in Parkinson's disease patients.

Thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is a recently discovered feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). Its exact pathological mechanism is yet unknown. We aimed to determine whether morphological changes of the RNFL are limited to RNFL thinning or also comprise an altered internal structure of this layer. Therefore, we investigated RNFL thickness and applied the RNFL attenuation coefficient (RNFL-AC), a novel method derived from optical coherence tomography, in PD patients and healthy controls (HCs). In this pilot study, we included 20 PD patients and 20 HCs matched for age, sex, and ethnicity. An ophthalmologist investigated all participants thoroughly, and we acquired retinal images from both eyes of each participant with a Spectralis optical coherence tomography system. We obtained both the RNFL-AC and RNFL thickness from peripapillary RNFL scans for the entire RNFL, as well as for each quadrant separately. We found no significant differences in the average RNFL-AC or the RNFL-AC of the separate retinal quadrants between PD patients and the HC group. However, compared to the HC group, PD patients had a significantly thinner RNFL in the temporal retinal quadrant. RNFL thinning was found in the temporal quadrant in PD patients without a corresponding change in the RNFL-AC. These findings suggest a reduction in the number of RNFL axons (atrophy) without other major changes in the structural integrity of the remaining RNFL.

Self-interference fluorescence microscopy with three-phase detection for depth-resolved confocal epi-fluorescence imaging.

Three-dimensional confocal fluorescence imaging of in vivo tissues is challenging due to sample motion and limited imaging speeds. In this paper a novel method is therefore presented for scanning confocal epi-fluorescence microscopy with instantaneous depth-sensing based on self-interference fluorescence microscopy (SIFM). A tabletop epi-fluorescence SIFM setup was constructed with an annular phase plate in the emission path to create a spectral self-interference signal that is phase-dependent on the axial position of a fluorescent sample. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on a 3 × 3 fiber-coupler was developed for a sensitive phase analysis of the SIFM signal with three photon-counter detectors instead of a spectrometer. The Mach-Zehnder interferometer created three intensity signals that alternately oscillated as a function of the SIFM spectral phase and therefore encoded directly for the axial sample position. Controlled axial translation of fluorescent microsphere layers showed a linear dependence of the SIFM spectral phase with sample depth over axial image ranges of 500 µm and 80 µm (3.9 × Rayleigh range) for 4 × and 10 × microscope objectives respectively. In addition, SIFM was in good agreement with optical coherence tomography depth measurements on a sample with indocyanine green dye filled capillaries placed at multiple depths. High-resolution SIFM imaging applications are demonstrated for fluorescence angiography on a dye-filled capillary blood vessel phantom and for autofluorescence imaging on an ex vivo fly eye.

Altered Adipogenesis in Zebrafish Larvae Following High Fat Diet and Chemical Exposure Is Visualised by Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy.

Early life stage exposure to environmental chemicals may play a role in obesity by altering adipogenesis; however, robust in vivo methods to quantify these effects are lacking. The goal of this study was to analyze the effects of developmental exposure to chemicals on adipogenesis in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). We used label-free Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) microscopy for the first time to image zebrafish adipogenesis at 15 days post fertilization (dpf) and compared standard feed conditions (StF) to a high fat diet (HFD) or high glucose diet (HGD). We also exposed zebrafish embryos to a non-toxic concentration of tributyltin (TBT, 1 nM) or Tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl)phosphate (TDCiPP, 0.5 µM) from 0-6 dpf and reared larvae to 15 dpf under StF. Potential molecular mechanisms of altered adipogenesis were examined by qPCR. Diet-dependent modulation of adipogenesis was observed, with HFD resulting in a threefold increase in larvae with adipocytes, compared to StF and HGD. Developmental exposure to TBT but not TDCiPP significantly increased adipocyte differentiation. The expression of adipogenic genes such as pparda, lxr and lepa was altered in response to HFD or chemicals. This study shows that SRS microscopy can be successfully applied to zebrafish to visualize and quantify adipogenesis, and is a powerful approach for identifying obesogenic chemicals in vivo.