Two-Photon Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope

Abstract

Two-photon excitation (TPE) fluorescence imaging is an important tool in biological sciences which provides high penetration depth, inherent three-dimensional (3-D) sectioning and good detection sensitivity at very low molecular concentrations. Due to the high transparency of the preretinal tissue, TPE fluorescence imaging can be used to image single neurons optically and non-invasively. The combination of scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) which provides reflectance images of the retina with TPE fluorescence imaging represents an imaging modality well suited for non-invasive retinal imaging. Here we present the implementation, application and future prospective of a novel compact two photon laser scanning ophthalmoscope capable of acquiring simultaneous confocal reflectance and two-photon images.