Kilohertz retinal FF-SS-OCT and flood imaging with hardware-based adaptive optics

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Imaging

Background:

• Cellular resolution imaging of the retina is crucial for early detection of visual deficits.
• Digital aberration correction (DAC) has limitations in achieving the necessary resolution for foveal cone visualization.
• Adaptive optics (AO) combined with swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) offers potential for high-resolution retinal imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and validate a full-field swept-source optical coherence tomography (FF-SS-OCT) system with adaptive optics (AO) for cellular resolution retinal imaging.
• To demonstrate the system's capability in visualizing foveal cones at high resolution and speed.
• To assess the system's potential for measuring light-evoked changes in photoreceptors.

Main Methods:

• Development of a FF-SS-OCT system integrated with a real-time adaptive optics (AO) subsystem.
• Utilized a very high-speed CMOS sensor for volumetric image acquisition at rates up to 1 kHz.
• System performance was characterized, and imaging of the human photoreceptor mosaic was demonstrated.

Main Results:

• The FF-SS-OCT system with hardware AO achieved resolution of foveal cones at 1° and 2° eccentricities.
• Volumetric imaging rates were sufficient to measure light-evoked changes in photoreceptors.
• The system also functioned as a kilohertz AO flood illumination fundus camera.

Conclusions:

• FF-SS-OCT with hardware AO enables visualization of the human foveal cone mosaic with cellular resolution.
• The system's high speed and resolution are suitable for studying dynamic photoreceptor function.
• This technology holds promise for advancing the early detection and understanding of retinal diseases.