Two-Photon Microscopy Allows Imaging and Characterization of Cochlear Microvasculature In Vivo

Table 1

Image quality in two-photon microscopy of cochlear microvessels ex vivo and in vivo.

Specimen/dye		FITC	Texas red	(two-way ANOVA)
Ex vivo examination; (explanted cochlea)	Number of vessels	5	5
	CNR	3.0 ± 1.0	4.4 ± 2.1	=0.161
In vivo examination	Number of vessels	6	6
	CNR	4.2 ± 2.0	2.0 ± 0.4	=0.022^*
(two-way ANOVA)		=0.227	=0.015^*

ANOVA: analysis of variance; CNR: contrast-to-noise ratio; FITC: fluorescein isothiocyanate; ^*difference statistically significant with < 0.05.