Automated animal gimbal steering for retinal imaging and stimulation

Here, we propose optomechanical devices for steering anesthetized animals during retinal imaging and/or stimulation with stationary ophthalmoscopes. Simple operating procedures ensure that the entrance pupil of the eye remains centered on the exit pupil of the ophthalmoscope during steering, to avoid vignetting. The devices, built with commercially available manual linear stages and motorized rotating devices, can be used to capture image sequences for tiling, as is often done in microscopy. This automated steering system, demonstrated here in mice, is applicable to other animal species and imaging modalities, as well as explanted eyes. The use of these devices can reduce imaging time and retinal light exposure, both of which are important when using ophthalmoscopes with small fields of view, such as adaptive optics ophthalmoscopes, while also improving animal welfare.