title: Quantitative imaging of cochlear soft tissues in wild-type and hearing-impaired transgenic mice by spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
abstract: Human hearing loss often occurs as a result of damage or malformations to the functional soft tissues within the cochlea, but these changes are not appreciable with current medical imaging modalities. We sought to determine whether optical coherence tomography (OCT) could assess the soft tissue structures relevant to hearing using mouse models. We imaged excised cochleae with an altered tectorial membrane and during normal development. The soft tissue structures and expected anatomical variations were visible using OCT, and quantitative measurements confirmed the ability to detect critical changes relevant to hearing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University, 801 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Simon S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Anping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Patrick D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Raphael
authors.forename: Ryan L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Shelton
authors.forename: Brian E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Applegate
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Oghalai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003051:Cochlea / Q000473:pathology*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004867:Equipment Design; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D009925:Organ of Corti / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods