PFI:AIR - TT: Prototype development for wide-field optical coherence tomography angiography

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This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating a parallel optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging technology to fill the need for wide-field label-free OCT angiography. OCT has been widely used in ophthalmic clinics as a standard diagnostic tool for diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and other retinal and corneal diseases. Label-free OCT angiography is important because it demonstrates promising features over traditional fluorescein angiography, which requires intravenous injection of fluorescein dye that may lead to various complications. OCT angiography is completely noninvasive, does not involve the risks of exogenous dye injection, and is capable of providing depth-resolved information about vascular structures down to the capillary level. The project will result in a clinical prototype of a wide-field OCT angiography system with 16 parallel imaging channels. This prototype system will enable high-definition, wide field OCT angiography over a 12 mm × 12 mm region of the retina, which is comparable to the field-of-view of standard fluorescein angiography. An entire 3D wide-field OCT angiography image of the retina can be obtained in less than two seconds, avoiding any motion artifacts or blinking of the patient's eyes. These features provide significant improvement in terms of imaging speed and wide-field of view when compared to the leading commercial OCT angiography systems in this market space. This project addresses the following technology gaps as it translates from research discovery toward commercial application. Although the principle of parallel OCT imaging has been demonstrated in laboratory settings, a clinical prototype capable of imaging human eyes has not been available. This project focuses on developing hardware and software solutions for space-division multiplexing OCT in order to enable functional OCT imaging (e.g. angiography) of human eyes, and testing its feasibility in clinical settings. In addition, personnel involved in this project, graduate students, post-doctoral associates and clinical fellows, will receive technical and entrepreneurship training experiences through multidisciplinary research activities. The project engages Dr. Alexander Brucker at the Scheie Eye Institute of the University of Pennsylvania to demonstrate clinical feasibility of the proposed technology in human patients. Successful demonstration of clinical feasibility is an important step in this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality.