[Histology of the living eye : Noninvasive microscopic structure and functional analysis of the retina with adaptive optics].

Equipping an ophthalmoscope with adaptive optics (AO) offers access to the living human retina with unprecedented spatial resolution. With AO, cellular structures such as the nerve fiber layer, the microvasculature of the smallest retinal capillaries, rod and cone photoreceptors and the mosaic of the retinal pigment epithelium are directly observable. A large number of studies in the normal and diseased retina have already shown that this level of detail offers new insights into disease mechanisms and progression, and promises to identify early disease markers. In conjunction with functional testing of single photoreceptors that is possible with AO microstimulation, a structure-function relationship on the cellular scale is within reach. These technological advances offer new avenues for clinical ophthalmology, interventional efforts, and basic research of the function and dysfunction of vision.