Photothermal Optical Coherence Tomography of Anti-Angiogenic Treatment in the Mouse Retina Using Gold Nanorods as Contrast Agents

PURPOSE: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is widely used for ocular imaging in clinical and research settings. OCT natively provides structural information based on the reflectivity of the tissues it images. We demonstrate the utility of photothermal OCT (PTOCT) imaging of gold nanorods (GNR) in the mouse retina in vivo in the laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (LCNV) model to provide additional image contrast within the lesion. METHODS: Wild-type C57BL/6 mice were imaged following the intravenous injection of ICAM2-targeted or untargeted GNR. Mice were also imaged following the injection of ICAM2-targeted GNR with or without the additional ocular delivery of a neutralizing monoclonal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) antibody. RESULTS: Mice cohorts injected with untargeted or ICAM2-targeted GNR demonstrated increased lesion-associated photothermal signal during subsequent imaging relative to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-injected controls. Additionally, intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF antibody caused a detectable reduction in the extent of anatomic laser damage and lesion-associated photothermal signal density in mice treated in the LCNV model and injected with ICAM2-targeted GNR. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments demonstrate the ability of PTOCT imaging of GNR to detect anti-VEGF-induced changes in the mouse retina using the LCNV model. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: This study shows that PTOCT imaging of GNR in the LCNV model can be used to detect clinically relevant, anti-VEGF-induced changes that are not visible using standard OCT systems. In the future this technology could be used to aid in early detection of disease, monitoring disease progress, and assessing its response to therapies.