Significance: There are no label-free imaging descriptors related to physiological activity of inner retinal cells in the living human eye. A major reason is that inner retinal neurons are highly transparent and reflect little light, making them extremely difficult to visualize and quantify. Aim: To measure physiologically-induced optical changes of inner retinal cells despite their challenging optical properties. Approach: We developed an imaging method based on adaptive optics and optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) and a suite of postprocessing algorithms, most notably a new temporal correlation method. Results: We captured the temporal dynamics of entire inner retinal layers, of specific tissue types, and of individual cells across three different timescales from fast (seconds) to extremely slow (one year). Time correlation analysis revealed significant differences in time constant (up to 0.4 s) between the principal layers of the inner retina with the ganglion cell layer (GCL) being the most dynamic. At the cellular level, significant differences were found between individual GCL somas. The mean time constant of the GCL somas ( ) was smaller than that of nerve fiber bundles and inner plexiform layer synapses and processes. Across longer durations, temporal speckle contrast and time-lapse imaging revealed motion of macrophage-like cells (over minutes) and GCL neuron loss and remodeling (over one year). Conclusions: Physiological activity of inner retinal cells is now measurable in the living human eye.
Keywords: adaptive optics; functional imaging; neurons; optical coherence tomography; retina; speckle.
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