Volumetric Imaging of Blood Flow Within Cochlea in Gerbil In Vivo

Changes in blood flow to the inner ear are thought to influence a number of cochlear diseases, including noise-induced hearing loss, sudden hearing loss, and Meniere´s disease. Advances have been made in the areas of vital microscopic studies of microcirculation, and the laser Doppler flowmetry. But none of these techniques can provide in vivo 3-D mapping of microvascular perfusion within the cochlea. To overcome this limitation, we have developed and used a method of optical microangiography (OMAG) that can generate 3-D angiograms within millimeter of tissue depths by analyzing the endogenous optical scattering signal obtained from an illuminated sample. We used OMAG to visualize the cochlear microcirculation of adult living gerbil through the intact cochlea, which would be difficult, if not impossible, by use of any other current techniques.