High-definition, wide field of view corneal imaging

角膜是我们视觉系统的主要聚焦结构。组织中的感染和疾病可以 损害视力并导致失明，甚至在具有完整神经感觉功能的眼睛中。角膜疾病是一种 世界上视力缺陷和失明的主要原因。组织评估是一个重要的步骤， 评估供体角膜的健康状况及其对不同类型放置的合适性，然而， 过程具有很强的主观性。需要高清晰度角膜成像来帮助选择 最适合移植的组织这方面的进展将极大地满足公众的需要，因为角膜是 这是全世界最常见的移植组织，每年有近185，000例移植。因此， 因此，需要一种灵敏、定量的方法来客观评价眼库中的组织。 我们研制了一种基于Gabor-Domain光学相干的三维高清晰成像仪 显微镜检查（GDOCM）。我们的SBIR第一阶段研究成功地实现了所有目标，并证明了 GDOCM在大视野范围内定量评估角膜组织的可行性。我们的第一阶段成果 证明了GDOCM与现有角膜成像技术相比具有以下关键优势， 包括镜面和共焦显微镜：1）提高了组织定性准确性， 减少采样误差的视野-这将提供对整体组织的更真实评估 2）同时测量角膜厚度、量化内皮细胞密度的能力，以及 识别由于角膜疾病引起的形态变化-这将导致在一个单一的角膜评估 工具; 3）利用机器学习创新来最大限度地减少用户引起的变化-这将导致 在更客观的评价中; 4）薄的半透明内皮细胞的增强的3D细胞水平成像-这 将使我们能够详细了解细胞活力。 拟议的第二阶段研究的结果将证明，GDOCM可以提供高清晰度，3D 用于鉴定眼内供体组织的直接商业应用的角膜结构可视化 银行，并与一个路径，在体内临床成像的患者角膜疾病。

The cornea is the primary focusing structure of our visual system. Infections and diseases in the tissue can impair vision and lead to blindness, even in eyes with intact neurosensory function. Corneal disease is one of the leading causes of visual deficiency and blindness in the world. Tissue evaluation is an important step for assessing the health of the donor cornea and its appropriateness for different types of placement, yet this process suffers from high subjectivity. High-definition corneal imaging is needed to assist in selection of the most appropriate tissue for transplant. Progress on this front would greatly serve public need, as the cornea is the most commonly transplanted tissue worldwide, with nearly 185,000 transplants annually. Thus, a more sensitive and quantitative method for objective evaluation of tissue at eye banks is needed. We have developed a 3D high-definition imaging instrument based on Gabor-Domain Optical Coherence Microscopy (GDOCM). Our SBIR Phase I research successfully accomplished all Aims and demonstrated the feasibility of quantitative assessment of corneal tissue over a large field of view with GDOCM. Our Phase I results demonstrated that GDOCM has the following key advantages over existing corneal imaging techniques, which include specular and confocal microscopy: 1) improved accuracy of tissue qualification with 4-10x increase in field of view that reduces sampling error – this will provides a truer assessment of the overall tissue characteristics; 2) ability to simultaneously measure corneal thickness, quantify endothelial cell density, and identify morphological variations due to corneal disease – this will lead to complete corneal evaluation in a single instrument; 3) leveraging machine learning innovations to minimize variability induced by users – this will result in a more objective evaluation; 4) enhanced 3D cellular-level imaging of thin translucent endothelial cells – this will enable a detailed understanding of cell viability. The results of the proposed Phase studies II will demonstrate that GDOCM can provide high-definition, 3D visualization of corneal structures with immediate commercial application for qualification of donor tissue in eye banks, and with a path to in vivo clinical imaging of patients with corneal disease.