Figure 7.

STOC-T Imaging of the choroid in 3-D

(A) Drawings showing the blood circulation system in the choroid supplying the choriocapillaris, relative to the localization of the retinal pigment epithelium, as seen from the sclera.

(B) Artistic representation of the choroidal layers and choriocapillaris with relative thicknesses of each layer. The diagram shows the lobular arrangement of the choriocapillaris and the increasing size of the choroidal vessels with depth.

(C) STOC-T imaging of the choroid reveals inter-space relationships among the retinal vascular layers, rendering three distinct choroidal layers. White bars represent 0.25 mm; Green arrows point at two exemplary locations of Sattler’s layer vessels inserting into the plane of the choriocapillaries, approximately perpendicularly to the CC. The white openings correspond to insertions of respective feeding and draining Sattler’s vessels into the outer surface of the capillaries (other exemplary locations are marked with red arrows), and indicate the functional lobular architecture. In contrast, the large vessels of Haller’s layer heading through the medium vessels towards the openings are marked in yellow. Data were rendered in FluoRender free software (http://www.sci.utah.edu/software/fluorender.html).