Significance: Mechanobiology is receiving an increasing amount of focus, but the mechanics of cell-substrate behavior are often neglected in cell biology. As such, novel materials and systems that are simple to build and share in a nonengineering laboratory are sorely needed. We have fabricated gradient hydrogels with continuous linear gradients above and below the durotactic threshold, making it possible to pinpoint optimal stiffness values for a wide range of biological phenomena without the confounding effects of durotaxis. This system has the potential for wide adoption in the cell biology community because of its ease of fabrication, simple material ingredients, and wide gradient possibilities in a single well.

Optical coherence elastography (OCE), as the use of OCT to perform elastography has come to be known, began in 1998, around ten years after the rest of the field of elastography – the use of imaging to deduce mechanical properties of tissues. After a slow start, the maturation of OCT technology in the early to mid 2000s has underpinned a recent acceleration in the field. With more than 20 papers published in 2015, and more than 25 in 2016, OCE is growing fast, but still small compared to the companion fields of cell mechanics research methods, and medical elastography. In this review, we describe the early developments in OCE, and the factors that led to the current acceleration. Much of our attention is on the key recent advances, with a strong emphasis on future prospects, which are exceptionally bright.

In optical coherence elastography, images are formed by mapping a mechanical property of tissue. Such images, known as elastograms, are formed on the microscale, intermediate between that of cells and whole organs. Optical coherence elastography holds great promise for detecting and monitoring the altered mechanical properties that accompany many clinical conditions and pathologies, particularly in cancer, cardiovascular disease and eye disease. In this review, we first consider how the mechanical properties of tissue are linked with tissue function and pathology. We then describe currently prominent optical coherence elastography techniques, with emphasis on the methods of mechanical loading and displacement estimation. We highlight the sensitivity to microstrain deformations at tens of micrometer resolution. Throughout, optical coherence elastography is considered in the context of other elastography methods, mainly ultrasound elastography and magnetic resonance elastography. This context serves to highlight its advantages, early stage of development of applications, and strong prospects for future impact.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of image magnification correction on superficial retinal vessel density (SRVD) and foveal avascular zone area (FAZA) measurements using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods: Participants with healthy retinas were recruited for ocular biometry, refraction, and RTVue XR Avanti OCTA imaging with the 3 × 3-mm protocol. The foveal and parafoveal SRVD and FAZA were quantified with custom software before and after correction for magnification error using the Littman and the modified Bennett formulae. Relative changes between corrected and uncorrected SRVD and FAZA were calculated. Results: Forty subjects were enrolled and the median (range) age of the participants was 30 (18–74) years. The mean (range) spherical equivalent refractive error was −1.65 (−8.00 to +4.88) diopters and mean (range) axial length was 24.42 mm (21.27–28.85). Images from 13 eyes were excluded due to poor image quality leaving 67 for analysis. Relative changes in foveal and parafoveal SRVD and FAZA after correction ranged from −20% to +10%, −3% to +2%, and −20% to +51%, respectively. Image size correction in measurements of foveal SRVD and FAZA was greater than 5% in 51% and 74% of eyes, respectively. In contrast, 100% of eyes had less than 5% correction in measurements of parafoveal SRVD. Conclusions: Ocular biometry should be performed with OCTA to correct image magnification error induced by axial length variation. We advise caution when interpreting interocular and interindividual comparisons of SRVD and FAZA derived from OCTA without image size correction.