Wide-field Ophthalmic Space-Division Multiplexing Optical Coherence Tomography.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Imaging
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• High-speed ophthalmic optical coherence tomography (OCT) is crucial for motion-free, wide-field retinal imaging.
• Existing OCT systems face limitations in speed and field of view for certain clinical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the capability of Space-Division Multiplexing Optical Coherence Tomography (SDM-OCT) for high-speed, wide-field retinal imaging.
• To evaluate the clinical feasibility of SDM-OCT compared to commercial OCT systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilized microelectromechanical vertical cavity surface emitting laser (MEMs VCSEL) sources with long coherence lengths.
• Employed space-division multiplexing (SDM) to multiplex multiple images along a single imaging depth.
• Achieved an effective A-scan rate of 800,000 A-scans/sec for volumetric retinal imaging.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated wide-field retinal OCT imaging with volumetric coverage up to 12.5 mm × 7.4 mm.
• Acquired complete volumetric images in less than 1 second, showcasing exceptional speed.
• Clinical feasibility study confirmed the high-speed capabilities of SDM-OCT in a clinical setting.

Conclusions:

• SDM-OCT offers a significant advancement in high-speed ophthalmic imaging.
• The technology enables rapid, motion-free, and wide-field retinal imaging, surpassing current limitations.
• SDM-OCT shows promise for enhanced clinical diagnosis and monitoring in ophthalmology.