SBIR Phase I: Deformable Mirror Devices for Ocular Adaptive Optics

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop an innovative micro mirror technology to address the technical problems facing the current ocular adaptive optics (AO) that include incapability to correct higher order aberrations, large cross-talk among pixels, being bulky and heavy in implementing driver electronics, and the prohibitively high cost that prevents mirror integration into commercial ophthalmic instruments such as fundus camera, confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope, and optical coherence tomography systems. This Phase I project will focus upon building a laboratory prototype to demonstrate the proof-of-concept wavefront correction of the device having an aperture size matching that of an eye pupil, performance test of the mirror for surface figures, operational speed, power consumption, reliability and stability of its material system, and to further explore critical manufacturing challenges for future monolithically integration of the mirror architecture onto a smart and low-power application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) substrate.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is a disruptive micro mirror technology enabling implementation of adaptive optics into commercial ophthalmic instruments by improving imaging resolution to up to one order of magnitude, reducing size and weight of the mirror module (associating interface board included) up to two orders of magnitude, thus becoming as compact as a digital camera, and by offering the eye clinical AO module to instruments manufacturers at acceptable prices. An adaptive optics system capable of enhancing retinal imaging resolution and delivering an accurate laser spot to the retina could be clinically capable of addressing several ocular diseases including retinal detachment, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. Other market applications of the AO mirrors include biomedical microscope, high-resolution imaging and communication through atmospheric turbulence, laser beam steering, and optical path alignment. The proposed mirror technology could be further adapted to produce a wide variety of scanning mirrors for miniature projector displays, intravascular imaging, and spectrometer market sectors.