Quantitative assessment of the material properties of ocular tissues can provide valuable information for investigating several ophthalmic diseases. Quantitative acoustic microscopy (QAM) offers a means of obtaining such information, but few QAM investigations have been conducted on human ocular tissue. We imaged the optic nerve (ON) and iridocorneal angle in 12-µm deparaffinized sections of the human eye using a custom-built acoustic microscope with a 250-MHz transducer (7-µm lateral resolution). The two-dimensional QAM maps of ultrasound attenuation (α), speed of sound (c), acoustic impedance (Z), bulk modulus (K), and mass density (ρ) were generated. Scanned samples were then stained and imaged by light microscopy for comparison with QAM maps. The spatial resolution and contrast of scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) maps were sufficient to resolve anatomic layers of the retina (Re); anatomic features in SAM maps corresponded to those seen by light microscopy. Significant variations of the acoustic parameters were found. For example, the sclera was 220 MPa stiffer than Re, choroid, and ON tissue. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic study to assess c, Z, K, ρ, and α of human ocular tissue at the high ultrasound frequencies used in this study.

中文翻译：

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7 µm 分辨率下人类眼组织的材料特性

眼组织材料特性的定量评估可以为研究几种眼科疾病提供有价值的信息。定量声学显微镜 (QAM) 提供了一种获取此类信息的方法，但对人类眼组织进行的 QAM 调查很少。我们使用带有 250 MHz 换能器（7 µm 横向分辨率）的定制声学显微镜对人眼 12 µm 脱蜡切片中的视神经 (ON) 和虹膜角膜角进行成像。生成了超声波衰减 (α)、声速 (c)、声阻抗 (Z)、体积模量 (K) 和质量密度 (ρ) 的二维 QAM 图。然后将扫描的样品染色并通过光学显微镜成像，以与 QAM 图进行比较。扫描声学显微镜 (SAM) 地图的空间分辨率和对比度足以解析视网膜 (Re) 的解剖层；SAM 图中的解剖特征与光学显微镜观察到的特征相对应。发现了声学参数的显着变化。例如，巩膜比 Re、脉络膜和 ON 组织硬 220 MPa。据作者所知，这是第一次在本研究中使用的高超声频率下评估人类眼组织的 c、Z、K、ρ 和 α 的系统研究。