Full Range Spectral Domain Anterior Segment OCT Scanner

描述(由申请人提供)：在这个第一阶段的小型企业创新研究申请中，Bioptigen Inc.计划制作一种便携式手持式角膜和眼前段光学相干断层扫描(CAS-OCT)扫描仪的原型，用于临床和应用研究应用。OCT是一种相对较新的眼科成像技术，它利用低相干度干涉法无创地获得微米级分辨率的活体组织的断层图像。基于原有的时域干涉技术的OCT系统已经成功地用于830 nm和1300 nm波长的人类视网膜和眼前节成像，但旧技术的图像采集速度和低信噪比严重限制了可以成功成像的对象的范围。为了使患者在长时间采集时不能动弹，迄今商业化的视网膜和眼前段OCT成像仪已被内置到标准的桌面裂隙灯生物显微镜设计中。由此产生的系统体积庞大，将潜在受试者的范围限制在合作的人类身上，这些人可以直立坐着，并能很好地凝视几秒钟。在过去的几年里，傅立叶域OCT(FDOCT)技术已经成为一种优于时域OCT的技术，表现出更高的图像采集速度和健壮的系统设计。图像采集速度的提高首次为手持探头眼科OCT成像提供了可能，FDOCT强大的设计潜力使真正便携的系统得以实现。Bioptigen，Inc.是一家隶属于杜克大学的初创公司，该公司销售最先进的视网膜FDOCT系统，使用传统和手持传输光学装置在830 nm波长运行，还销售基于桌面显微镜的1300 nm波长OCT系统，用于小动物成像和其他临床前研究应用。然而，由于FDOCT固有的局限性，这两种系统的成像深度都被限制在4毫米以下，这对于全深度眼前段成像是不够的。在这份SBIR第一阶段提案中，Bioptigen建议将他们的1300 nm OCT和手持探头技术应用于高速、手持、全深度眼前段成像，这将使眼科OCT成像的好处惠及更广泛类别的受试者，包括卧床和婴儿人类患者，以及用于生物医学和兽医研究的各种大小动物(从老鼠到马)。在这个第一阶段的小型企业创新研究应用中，Bioptigen Inc.计划制作一种便携式手持式角膜和眼前段光学相干断层扫描(CAS-OCT)扫描仪的原型，用于临床和应用研究应用。该成像系统将能够通过开发一种新的方法来去除复杂的共轭伪影，从而对前段(&gt；6 mm)的全部深度进行成像。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this Phase I Small Business Innovative Research application, Bioptigen Inc. proposes to prototype a portable, handheld cornea and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (CAS-OCT) scanner for use in clinical and applied research applications. OCT is a relatively new technology for ophthalmic imaging, which uses low-coherence interferometry to obtain cross-sectional images in living tissues with micron-scale resolution noninvasively. OCT systems based on the original time-domain interferometry technology have been successfully demonstrated for human retinal and anterior segment imaging at 830nm and 1300nm wavelengths, respectively, however the slower image acquisition rate and lower signal-to-noise ratio of the older technology places severe constraints on the range of subjects which can be successfully imaged. In order to immobilize patients for long acquisition times, retinal and anterior segment OCT imagers commercialized to date have been built into standard tabletop slit-lamp biomicroscope designs. The resulting systems are bulky and limit the range of potential subjects to cooperative humans who can sit upright and fixate well for several seconds. In the last few years, Fourier domain OCT (FDOCT) technology has emerged as a superior alternative to time-domain OCT, exhibiting improved image acquisition speed and robust system design. The increased image acquisition speed opens the possibility for the first time for ophthalmic OCT imaging with handheld probes, and the robust design potential of FDOCT enables the implementation of truly portable systems. Bioptigen, Inc., a startup company affiliated with Duke University, has marketed state-of-the- art retinal FDOCT systems operating at 830nm wavelength using both conventional and handheld delivery optics, and also markets a tabletop microscope-based 1300nm wavelength OCT system for small animal imaging and other pre-clinical research applications. However, due to a limitation intrinsic to FDOCT, both of these systems are limited in imaging depth to less than 4 millimeters, which is insufficient for full-depth anterior segment imaging. In this SBIR Phase I proposal, Bioptigen proposes to adapt their 1300nm OCT and handheld probe technology for high speed, handheld, full-depth anterior segment imaging which will make the benefits of ophthalmic OCT imaging available to a much wider class of subjects, including bedridden and infant human patients, as well as animals of all sizes (from mouse to horse) used in biomedical and veterinary research. In this Phase I Small Business Innovative Research application, Bioptigen Inc. proposes to prototype a portable, handheld cornea and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (CAS-OCT) scanner for use in clinical and applied research applications. This imaging system will be able to image the full depth of the anterior segment (> 6mm) by developing a novel approach to complex conjugate artifact removal.