Review of optical coherence tomography based angiography in neuroscience

The brain is a complex ecosystem, consisting of multiple layers and tissue compartments. To facilitate the understanding of its function and its response to neurological insults, a fast in vivo imaging tool with a micronlevel resolution, which can provide a field of view at a few millimeters, is desirable. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive method for imaging three-dimensional biological tissues with high resolution (similar to 10 mu m) and without a need for contrast agents. Recent development of OCT-based angiography has started to shed some new light on cerebral hemodynamics in neuroscience. We give an overview of the recent developments of OCT-based imaging techniques for neuroscience applications in rodents. We summarize today's technological alternatives for OCT-based angiography for neuroscience and provide a discussion of challenges and opportunities. Moreover, a summary of OCT angiography studies for stroke, traumatic brain injury, and subarachnoid hemorrhage cases on rodents is provided. (C) 2016 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)