title: Scanning laser optical tomography for in toto imaging of the murine cochlea.
abstract: The mammalian cochlea is a complex macroscopic structure due to its helical shape and the microscopic arrangements of the individual layers of cells. To improve the outcomes of hearing restoration in deaf patients, it is important to understand the anatomic structure and composition of the cochlea ex vivo. Hitherto, only one histological technique based on confocal laser scanning microscopy and optical clearing has been developed for in toto optical imaging of the murine cochlea. However, with a growing size of the specimen, e.g., human cochlea, this technique reaches its limitations. Here, we demonstrate scanning laser optical tomography (SLOT) as a valuable imaging technique to visualize the murine cochlea in toto without any physical slicing. This technique can also be applied in larger specimens up to cm3 such as the human cochlea. Furthermore, immunolabeling allows visualization of inner hair cells (otoferlin) or spiral ganglion cells (neurofilament) within the whole cochlea. After image reconstruction, the 3D dataset was used for digital segmentation of the labeled region. As a result, quantitative analysis of position, length and curvature of the labeled region was possible. This is of high interest in order to understand the interaction of cochlear implants (CI) and cells in more detail.
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Biomedical Optics Department, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Hannover Germany.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4737-6374
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nolte
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Biomedical Optics Department, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Hannover Germany.|Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tinne
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.|Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Biomedical Optics Department, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Hannover Germany.|Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heinemann
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Biomedical Optics Department, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Hannover Germany.
authors.forename: Georgios C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Antonopoulos
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Biomedical Optics Department, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Hannover Germany.|Biofabrication for NIFE, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.|Neurogenetics, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans Gerd
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Nothwang
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.|Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.|Biofabrication for NIFE, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lenarz
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Biomedical Optics Department, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Hannover Germany.|Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.|Biofabrication for NIFE, Hannover, Germany.|Institute of Quantum Optics, Leibniz University of Hanover, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heisterkamp
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.|Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Athanasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warnecke
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Biomedical Optics Department, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Hannover Germany.|Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover and Oldenburg, Germany.|Biofabrication for NIFE, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Tammo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ripken
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003051:Cochlea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D051379:Mice; D041622:Tomography, Optical / Q000379:methods*