Retinal adaptive optics imaging with a pyramid wavefront sensor.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmic imaging
• Biomedical optics
• Adaptive optics

Background:

• Pyramid wavefront sensors (P-WFS) offer advantages over Shack-Hartmann sensors for astronomical adaptive optics (AO).
• Previous attempts at ophthalmic AO imaging with P-WFS were hindered by complexity and cost.
• High-quality retinal imaging using P-WFS has not yet been achieved.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a cost-effective, non-modulated P-WFS for ophthalmic AO imaging.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of high-resolution in vivo retinal imaging using this novel P-WFS system.
• To compare the performance of the P-WFS system against conventional Shack-Hartmann WFS-based AO.

Main Methods:

• A non-modulated P-WFS was constructed using standard, cost-effective components.
• The P-WFS system was integrated with optical coherence tomography (OCT) for in vivo human retinal imaging.
• Performance was validated in a model eye and in 5 healthy human subjects, with comparisons to Shack-Hartmann WFS-based AO.

Main Results:

• High-quality AO imaging of the human retina was successfully achieved using the non-modulated P-WFS.
• Smallest retinal cells, including central foveal cone photoreceptors, were visualized.
• The system demonstrated robustness and versatility across different imaging conditions and fields of view.

Conclusions:

• A cost-effective, non-modulated P-WFS is a viable and effective tool for high-resolution ophthalmic AO imaging.
• This technology has the potential to replace conventional wavefront sensors in visual science.
• The developed P-WFS system offers a promising new avenue for advancing ophthalmic diagnostic capabilities.