Retinal blood flow velocity was measured in human volunteers by a high-speed adaptive optics multi-detection mode ophthalmoscope using a digital micromirror device (DMD). Retinal vascular images under multi-line illumination were captured and post-processed to obtain differential multiply scattered images with frame acquisition rate of 500 Hz. Velocity measurements based on cross-correlation or Radon transform method showed cardiac-dependent pulsatile patterns. The peak velocity was measured in the range of 1.4 mm/s to 11 mm/s depending on the vessels size. Line illumination patterns with two directions, horizontal and vertical lines, were tested to investigate the effect of relative orientation between illumination lines and vessels on contrast of moving cells.
A high-speed adaptive optics (AO) partially-confocal ophthalmoscope using a digital micromirror device (DMD) and high-speed 2D CMOS camera is presented. The system allows for easy control of the trade-off between image acquisition rate and contrast by applying different illumination patterns on the DMD. The camera is synchronized with the DMD projecting multi-spot patterns on the human retina, which is pre-corrected by AO, for parallel scanning. Frame acquisition rates up to 250 fps was achieved this applying multi-spot scheme, with the contrast improving 2-3 fold compared to standard flood illumination. Partially confocal images of the human retina showed cone and rod photoreceptors over a range of retinal eccentricities.
Significance: Subretinal injection is an effective way of delivering transplant genes and cells to treat many degenerative retinal diseases. However, the technique requires high-dexterity and microscale precision of experienced surgeons, who have to overcome the physiological hand tremor and limited visualization of the subretinal space.
Aim: To automatically guide the axial motion of microsurgical tools (i.e., a subretinal injector) with microscale precision in real time using a fiber-optic common-path swept-source optical coherence tomography distal sensor.
Approach: We propose, implement, and study real-time retinal boundary tracking of A-scan optical coherence tomography (OCT) images using a convolutional neural network (CNN) for automatic depth targeting of a selected retinal boundary for accurate subretinal injection guidance. A simplified 1D U-net is used for the retinal layer segmentation on A-scan OCT images. A Kalman filter, combining retinal boundary position measurement by CNN and velocity measurement by cross correlation between consecutive A-scan images, is applied to optimally estimate the retinal boundary position. Unwanted axial motions of the surgical tools are compensated by a piezoelectric linear motor based on the retinal boundary tracking.
Results: CNN-based segmentation on A-scan OCT images achieves the mean unsigned error (MUE) of ∼3 pixels (8.1 μm) using an ex vivo bovine retina model. GPU parallel computing allows real-time inference (∼2 ms) and thus real-time retinal boundary tracking. Involuntary tremors, which include low-frequency draft in hundreds of micrometers and physiological tremors in tens of micrometers, are compensated effectively. The standard deviations of photoreceptor (PR) and choroid (CH) boundary positions get as low as 10.8 μm when the depth targeting is activated.
Conclusions: A CNN-based common-path OCT distal sensor successfully tracks retinal boundaries, especially the PR/CH boundary for subretinal injection, and automatically guides the tooltip’s axial position in real time. The microscale depth targeting accuracy of our system shows its promising possibility for clinical application.
In a partial cornea transplant surgery, a procedure known as “Big Bubble” is used and it requires precise needle detection and tracking. To accomplish this goal, we used traditional image segmentation methods and trained a Convolutional Neural network (CNN) model to track the needle during the cornea transplant surgery guided by OCT B-scan imaging. The dataset was generated from the laboratory OCT system and we classified them to three categories. The network architecture is based on U-Net and modified to avoid overfitting. We are able to track the needle and detect the distance between the needle tip and cornea bottom layer based on these results.
Significance: Selective retina therapy (SRT) selectively targets the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and reduces negative side effects by avoiding thermal damages of the adjacent photoreceptors, the neural retina, and the choroid. However, the selection of proper laser energy for the SRT is challenging because of ophthalmoscopically invisible lesions in the RPE and different melanin concentrations among patients or even regions within an eye.
Aim: We propose and demonstrate SRT monitoring based on speckle variance optical coherence tomography (svOCT) for dosimetry control.
Approach: M-scans, time-resolved sequence of A-scans, of ex vivo bovine retina irradiated by 1.7-μs duration laser pulses were obtained by a swept-source OCT. SvOCT images were calculated as interframe intensity variance of the sequence. Spatial and temporal temperature distributions in the retina were numerically calculated in a 2-D retinal model using COMSOL Multiphysics. Microscopic images of treated spots were obtained before and after removing the upper neural retinal layer to assess the damage in both RPE and neural layers.
Results: SvOCT images show abrupt speckle variance changes when the retina is irradiated by laser pulses. The svOCT intensities averaged in RPE and photoreceptor layers along the axial direction show sharp peaks corresponding to each laser pulse, and the peak values were proportional to the laser pulse energy. The calculated temperatures in the neural retina layer and RPE were linearly fitted to the svOCT peak values, and the temperature of each lesion was estimated based on the fitting. The estimated temperatures matched well with previously reported results.
Conclusion: We found a reliable correlation between the svOCT peak values and the degree of retinal lesion formation, which can be used for selecting proper laser energy during SRT.
The most challenging aspect of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), is what’s known as “Big Bubble” technique which injects air/fluid to fully separate the Descemet’s Membrane and stroma with a hydro-dissection needle. Big bubble technique requires micron accuracy to guide the needle to approximately 90% depth of cornea. Here, we developed and tested common-path swept source optical coherence tomography (CP-SSOCT) distal-sensor integrated hydro-dissection needles, which can accurately detect the needle position relative to corneal tissues with micron accuracy. The OCT distal-sensor was put inside a 30-gauge needle, which was also used for hydro dissection. A high-index elliptical epoxy lens was attached to the end of the single mode fiber to increase the signal to noise ratio inside the cornea. To control the position and insertion angle of the sensor, we customized the eye mount with an angular slide and a precise linear motor with Luer-slip. The needle was fixed outside, 100um from epithelium layer, to obtain the A-scan image to identify both epithelium and endothelium membranes at every 10° from 0° to 70° insertion angles. The needle was then inserted into bovine cornea and recorded A-scan images at each step. Freehand insertion test was performed with and without sensor guided needles. The results showed that the position of the epithelium and endothelium membranes were still identified from A-scan even at 70°. Sensor guided freehand test can reach 95% of cornea thickness on average without any perforation. These results are consistent with our hypothesis that CP-SSOCT fiber sensor can guide a needle insertion inside a cornea for Big Bubble technique.
We propose and demonstrate high-index elliptical epoxy-lensed fiber probes designed specifically for endoscopic common-path (CP) swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging inside wet tissues. The high-index epoxy lens uses a beam expansion region of a few hundred microns, which is capped with a spherical surface mounted at the end of an optical fiber. The probe is designed to operate inside wet tissues and shows improved performance over a long imaging depth, compared to bare or simple half-ball-lensed fiber probes. It allows optimal CP-OCT imaging in wet tissues by providing a stable reference power level and optimal beam waist for a long imaging depth. We have fabricated an array of these probes and one with a beam expansion region length of 288 μm and with a lens surface radius of 61 μm exhibiting 25-dB signal-to-noise ratio improvement compared to a bare fiber probe at 1.5-mm distance in water. The proposed probe is tested using a phantom sample comprising several layers of tape in water. The OCT images show that the probe is capable of high-resolution imaging over a distance of 1.5 mm.
Retinal photocoagulation techniques are widely used to treat various retinal diseases such as retinal detachment, diabetic retinopathy and ischemic retinal vein occlusion. The degree of coagulation, which plays important role for optimal surgical outcomes, depends on the tissue temperature achieved and the exposure time. The temperature distribution is affected by indeterminate characteristics, such as the pigmentation of the retinal tissue and the radiative transfer by its structure, in addition to the laser radiation condition. Therefore, an accurate measurement of the tissue temperature offers crucial information that could prevent excessive burning and collateral damage.
There have been many researches on temperature monitoring methods using various sensors or imaging systems such as fiber optic sensor, ultrasound imaging, MRI, photoacoustic imaging, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Among them, the OCT is a promising technique for retina imaging because it is a non-invasive system providing depth resolved images with microscale resolution. One of the OCT technique, speckle variance optical coherence tomography (svOCT), is known to detect moving molecules or coagulation in tissues sensitively by calculating changes of speckle pattern with time.
In this paper, we proposed temperature monitoring of retinal tissues by svOCT imaging during photocoagulation since photocoagulation of retinal tissues is closely related to its temperature distribution. An ex-vivo bovine retina was continuously radiated by 10 mW green laser after removal of cornea, lens, and vitreous humor. SvOCT images of the retina was acquired every 1 minutes and analyzed with temperature data measured by thermometer. The results showed that speckle variance signal increases as temperature increases. Based on our result, we expect that svOCT will be an effective method for temperature monitoring to improve and automate laser treatments in ophthalmology.
A commercial ophthalmic laser system (R;GEN, Lutronic Corp) was integrated with a swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system for real-time tissue temperature monitoring. M-scan OCT images were acquired during laser-pulse radiation, and speckle variance OCT (svOCT) images were analyzed to deduce temporal signal variations related to tissue temperature change from laser-pulse radiation. A phantom study shows that svOCT magnitude increases abruptly after laser pulse radiation and recovered exponentially, and the peak intensity of svOCT image was linearly dependent on pulse laser energy until it saturates. A study using bovine iris also showed signal variation dependence on the laser pulse radiation, and the variation was more distinctive with higher energy level.
We present an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system that effectively compensates unwanted axial motion with micron-scale accuracy. The OCT system is based on a swept-source (SS) engine (1060-nm center wavelength, 100-nm full-width sweeping bandwidth, and 100-kHz repetition rate), with axial and lateral resolutions of about 4.5 and 8.5 microns respectively. The SS-OCT system incorporates a distance sensing method utilizing an envelope-based surface detection algorithm. The algorithm locates the target surface from the B-scans, taking into account not just the first or highest peak but the entire signature of sequential A-scans. Subsequently, a Kalman filter is applied as predictor to make up for system latencies, before sending the calculated position information to control a linear motor, adjusting and maintaining a fixed system-target distance. To test system performance, the motioncorrection algorithm was compared to earlier, more basic peak-based surface detection methods and to performing no motion compensation. Results demonstrate increased robustness and reproducibility, particularly noticeable in multilayered tissues, while utilizing the novel technique. Implementing such motion compensation into clinical OCT systems may thus improve the reliability of objective and quantitative information that can be extracted from OCT measurements.
KEYWORDS: Holograms, Holography, Integral imaging, Image sensors, 3D image reconstruction, Computer generated holography, Imaging systems, 3D image processing, Spatial light modulators, Signal to noise ratio
We demonstrate the depth measurement method of holographic images using integral imaging. The depth information of holographic images can be obtained with a single capture by conventional integral imaging pickup system composed of a micro lens array (MLA) and an image sensor. In order to verify the feasibility of our proposed method, an elemental image set of holographic images formed by a MLA was generated by a computer, and then refocused images at different planes were reconstructed numerically using computational integral imaging reconstruction (CIIR) technique for depth measurement. Note that we set the distance between MLA and image sensor as focal length of micro lens for large depth of focus. From the numerical results, we can measure the depth representation of holographic images successfully. However, refocused images from an optically captured elemental image set provide poor depth discrimination due to expected error in distance between MLA and image sensor. Only an object in a particular narrow depth range can be focused clearly when the image sensor is placed out of the MLA focal plane. The simulated results in this condition matched reasonably with the experiment result.
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