Ophthalmic Optical Coherence Tomography

描述(由申请人提供)：这项第二阶段的小型企业创新研究申请计划通过将傅立叶域OCT(FD-OCT)技术商业化，并为各种学科类别的视网膜OCT成像开发强大的接口，大幅扩大光学相干断层扫描(OCT)技术的商业可用性，用于临床前人类和动物研究应用。傅立叶域OCT(FD-OCT)是近年来发展起来的一项新技术，与传统的时域OCT(TD-OCT)相比，它在灵敏度和稳健性方面具有显著优势。在第一阶段项目中，提出并实现了一种用于视网膜成像的新型扫描源OCT(SS-OCT)系统，但830 nm波长的扫描激光组件的可用性阻碍了系统的性能，导致功率低且扫描速度慢。在分包商开发扫描源830 nm激光器的同时，Bioptigen公司成功地开发了第二台基于光谱域OCT(SD-OCT)的视网膜成像仪。SD-OCT是FD-OCT的另一种形式，其中使用宽带光源和光谱仪来代替快速扫描的激光光源。Bioptigen SD-OCT成像仪具有出色的性能，具有6微米的轴向分辨率，在每秒17张图像的实时图像更新率(每张图像1000条轴线)下的信噪比为106dB，以及用户友好的软件。 拟议的第二阶段项目将继续开发我们的高性能SD-OCT视网膜扫描仪系统，增加额外的功能，并将该系统从工程测试版原型转移到商业系统。我们的研究人员、分包商和顾问团队包括光电子元件制造(OCT技术的基础)、光学传感方面的专家，OCT视网膜和眼前段成像系统的原始开发商之一，以及OCT在人类和动物研究应用方面的领先专家。 该方案的具体目标是：1.设计和制造820 nm SD-OCT发动机的量产原型；2.开发高速OCT眼底成像；3.建立用于人类和研究动物非接触成像的模块化平台接口；4.开发用于人类和研究动物接触成像的手持式SD-OCT探头；5.开发和测试用于OCT视网膜扫描仪的增强型软件套件。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Phase II Small Business Innovative Research application proposes to dramatically expand the commercial availability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology for pre-clinical human and animal research applications by commercializing Fourier-domain OCT (FD-OCT) technology and developing robust interfaces for retinal OCT imaging in a wide variety of subject classes. Fourier domain OCT (FD-OCT) is a recent innovation which has significant advantages in sensitivity and robustness compared to conventional time-domain OCT (TD-OCT) systems. In the Phase I project, a novel Swept Source OCT (SS-OCT) system for retinal imaging was proposed and implemented, however the system performance was hampered by the availability of swept laser components at the 830nm wavelength, resulting in low power and a slow sweep rate. Simultaneous with development of the swept-source 830nm laser by a subcontractor, a second retinal imager based on Spectral Domain OCT (SD-OCT) was successfully developed at Bioptigen. SD-OCT is an alternative form of FD-OCT, in which a broad band light source and a spectrometer are used in place of a rapidly swept laser source. The Bioptigen SD-OCT imager exhibited outstanding performance, with 6 micrometer axial resolution, 106 dB of SNR at a real-time image update rate of 17 images per second (at 1000 axial lines per image), and user-friendly software. The proposed Phase II project will continue the development of our high-performance SD-OCT retinal scanner system, adding additional functionality and moving the system from an engineering beta prototype to a commercial system. Our team of investigators, subcontractors, and consultants includes experts in optoelectronic component manufacturing (the basis of OCT technology), optical sensing, one of the original developers of OCT systems for retinal and anterior segment imaging, and a leading expert in human and animal research applications of OCT. The specific aims of the proposal are to: 1. Design and build a production prototype 820 nm SD-OCT engine, 2. Develop high speed "OCT Fundus" imaging, 3. Build a modular platform interface for non-contact imaging in humans and research animals, 4. Develop handheld SD-OCT probes for contact imaging in humans and research animals, and 5. Develop and test an enhanced software suite for the OCT retinal scanner.