A protective eye shield for prevention of media opacities during small animal ocular imaging

Optical coherence tomography (OCT), scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) and other non-invasive imaging techniques are increasingly used in eye research to document disease-related changes in rodent eyes. Corneal dehydration is a major contributor to the formation of ocular opacities that can limit the repeated application of these techniques to individual animals. General anesthesia is usually required for imaging, which is accompanied by the loss of the blink reflex. As a consequence, the tear film cannot be maintained, drying occurs and the cornea becomes dehydrated. Without supplemental hydration, structural damage to the cornea quickly follows. Soon thereafter, anterior lens opacities can also develop. Collectively these changes ultimately compromise image quality, especially for studies involving repeated use of the same animal over several weeks or months. To minimize these changes, a protective shield was designed for mice and rats that prevent ocular dehydration during anesthesia. The eye shield, along with a semi-viscous ophthalmic solution, is placed over the corneas as soon as the anesthesia immobilizes the animal. Eye shields are removed for only the brief periods required for imaging and then reapplied before the fellow eye is examined. As a result, the corneal surface of each eye is exposed only for the time required for imaging. The device and detailed methods described here minimize the corneal and lens changes associated with ocular surface desiccation. When these methods are used consistently, high quality images can be obtained repeatedly from individual animals.