Isolating Short Posterior Ciliary Arteries: A Protocol to Excise Intact Short Posterior Ciliary Microvessels from Porcine Eye

Fresh porcine eyes together with optic nerve and extraocular tissues were obtained from the local abattoir immediately post-mortem. Place the eye globe in a dissection chamber containing ice-cold Krebs-Henseleit buffer. Carefully cut away surrounding muscle and tissues with a pair of sharp Mayo scissors.

Make an incision with a scalpel, and cut the globe along the equatorial plane with a pair of sharp Mayo scissors until the eye is separated into the anterior and posterior halves. Remove as much vitreous body as possible from the posterior half of the eye using a pair of standard pattern forceps.

After using dissection pins to carefully pin down the posterior half of the eye, gently cut away the connective tissue surrounding the optic nerve to expose the underlying retrobulbar vasculature with a pair of Student Vannas spring scissors.

Isolate the pair of optic and distal short posterior ciliary artery together with the surrounding connective tissues with a pair of type 5 precision tweezers and Vannas capsulotomy scissors. Gently remove connective tissues from the arterial segments using extra fine-tipped tweezers and scissors before rinsing the isolated arteries in ice-cold PBS to remove contaminants and blood residues.