Determination and correction of aberrations in full field optical coherence tomography using phase gradient autofocus...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Optics
• Image Processing

Background:

• Ocular aberrations limit the resolution of fundus imaging.
• Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a key technology for retinal imaging.
• Accurate correction of optical aberrations is crucial for high-resolution retinal imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a numerical method for estimating and correcting ocular aberrations in OCT fundus imaging.
• To enhance the resolution of OCT fundus images by mitigating wave front distortions.
• To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed aberration correction technique.

Main Methods:

• Statistical estimation of aberrations using likelihood function maximization.
• Extension of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) phase gradient autofocusing to 2D optical aberration correction.
• Application and validation of the method in OCT fundus imaging.

Main Results:

• Successful correction of 6λ aberrations in OCT fundus images.
• Resolution of individual photoreceptor cells after aberration correction.
• Demonstrated ability to determine and correct wave front distortions with high spatial frequencies.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method effectively corrects ocular aberrations in OCT fundus imaging.
• High-resolution imaging, including single photoreceptor visualization, is achievable with this technique.
• The method is robust for correcting complex wave front distortions.