Speckle variance OCT for depth resolved assessment of the viability of bovine embryos

• Published in: Biomedical optics express Vol. 8; no. 11; pp. 5139 - 5150
• Main Authors: Caujolle, S, Cernat, R, Silvestri, G, Marques, M J, Bradu, A, Feuchter, T, Robinson, G, Griffin, D K, Podoleanu, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Optical Society of America 01.11.2017
• Subjects: (170.1420) Biology; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (110.4500) Optical coherence tomography; (110.4153) Motion estimation and optical flow; (030.6140) Speckle
• ISSN: 2156-7085; 2156-7085
• DOI: 10.1364/boe.8.005139

The morphology of embryos produced by fertilization (IVF) is commonly used to estimate their viability. However, imaging by standard microscopy is subjective and unable to assess the embryo on a cellular scale after compaction. Optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique that can produce a depth-resolved profile of a sample and can be coupled with speckle variance (SV) to detect motion on a micron scale. In this study, day 7 post-IVF bovine embryos were observed either short-term (10 minutes) or long-term (over 18 hours) and analyzed by swept source OCT and SV to resolve their depth profile and characterize micron-scale movements potentially associated with viability. The percentage of images showing movement at any given time was calculated as a method to detect the vital status of the embryo. This method could be used to measure the levels of damage sustained by an embryo, for example after cryopreservation, in a rapid and non-invasive way.