Non-destructive morphological observation of anatomical growth process in Haemaphysalis Longicornis tick specimens using optical coherence tomography

Background: Ticks are known as the representatives of hematophagous arachnids. They cause various tick-borne diseases, such as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) and Lyme disease. To understand the mechanism of virus infection caused by ticks, morphology for the anatomical characteristics of crucial organs has been widely studied in acarological fields. The conventional methods used for tick observation have inevitable limitations. Dissection is the standard method to obtain the morphological information, and complex microscopy methods were utilized alternatively. Objective: The study goal is to obtain the morphological information of ticks in different growth stages non-invasively. Methods: Optical coherence tomography (OCT ...