Retinal imaging using adaptive optics optical coherence tomography with fast and accurate real-time tracking.

One of the main obstacles in high-resolution 3-D retinal imaging is eye motion, which causes blur and distortion artifacts that require extensive post-processing to be corrected. Here, an adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (AOOCT) system with real-time active eye motion correction is presented. Correction of ocular aberrations and of retinal motion is provided by an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) that is optically and electronically combined with the AOOCT system. We describe the system design and quantify its performance. The AOOCT system features an independent focus adjustment that allows focusing on different retinal layers while maintaining the AOSLO focus on the photoreceptor mosaic for high fidelity active motion correction. The use of a high-quality reference frame for eye tracking increases revisitation accuracy between successive imaging sessions, allowing to collect several volumes from the same area. This system enables spatially targeted retinal imaging as well as volume averaging over multiple imaging sessions with minimal correction of motion in post processing.
Competing Interests: AR:USPTO #7,118,216, "Method and apparatus for using AO in a scanning laser ophthalmoscope" and USPTO #6,890,076, "Method and apparatus for using AO in a scanning laser ophthalmoscope". These patents are assigned to both the University of Rochester and the University of Houston and are currently licensed to Boston Micromachines Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Both AR and the company may benefit financially from the publication of this research.
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