In vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) allows the evaluation of the living human cornea at the cellular level. The non-invasive nature of this technique longitudinal, repeated examinations of the same tissue over time. Image analysis of two-dimensional time-lapse sequences of presumed immune cells with and without visible dendrites at the corneal sub-basal nerve plexus in the eyes of healthy individuals was performed. We demonstrated evidence that cells without visible dendrites are highly dynamic and move rapidly in the axial directions. A number of dynamic cells were observed and measured from three eyes of different individuals. The total average displacement and trajectory speeds of three cells without visible dendrites (N = 9) was calculated to be 1.12 ± 0.21 and 1.35 ± 0.17 microns per minute, respectively. One cell with visible dendrites per cornea was also analysed. Tracking dendritic cell dynamics in vivo has the potential to significantly advance the understanding of the human immune adaptive and innate systems. The ability to observe and quantify migration rates of immune cells in vivo is likely to reveal previously unknown insights into corneal and general pathophysiology and may serve as an effective indicator of cellular responses to intervention therapies.

体内共聚焦显微镜（IVCM）可以在细胞水平评估活人角膜。该技术的非侵入性是随着时间的推移对同一组织进行纵向重复检查。对健康个体的角膜下基底神经丛中有和没有可见树突的假定免疫细胞的二维延时序列进行图像分析。我们证明了没有可见树突的细胞是高度动态的，并且在轴向方向上快速移动。从不同个体的三只眼睛观察并测量了许多动态细胞。三个无可见树突（N = 9）的单元的总平均位移和轨迹速度分别为每分钟1.12±0.21和1.35±0.17微米。还分析了每个角膜具有可见树突的细胞。体内追踪树突状细​​胞动力学具有极大地增进对人类免疫适应性和先天系统的理解的潜力。观察和定量体内免疫细胞迁移速率的能力可能揭示出以前未知的对角膜和一般病理生理学的见解，并且可以作为细胞对干预疗法反应的有效指标。