Full Range Spectral Domain Anterior Segment OCT Scanner

描述（由申请人提供）：在本I期小型企业创新研究申请中，Bioptigen Inc.提出了一种用于临床和应用研究应用的便携式、手持式角膜和眼前节光学相干断层扫描（CAS-OCT）扫描仪的原型。OCT是一种较新的眼科成像技术，它利用低相干干涉技术非侵入性地获得活体组织中具有微米级分辨率的横截面图像。基于原始时域干涉测量技术的OCT系统已分别成功地用于830 nm和1300 nm波长的人类视网膜和眼前节成像，然而，较旧技术的较慢的图像采集速率和较低的信噪比对可以成功成像的受试者范围造成了严重的限制。为了长时间采集患者，迄今为止商业化的视网膜和眼前节OCT成像仪已内置于标准台式裂隙灯生物显微镜设计中。由此产生的系统体积庞大，并限制了潜在受试者的范围，只有能够直立坐着并固定几秒钟的合作人类。在过去的几年中，傅立叶域OCT（FDOCT）技术已经成为时域OCT的上级替代方案，表现出改进的图像采集速度和鲁棒的系统设计。提高的图像采集速度首次为使用手持式探头进行眼科OCT成像提供了可能性，FDOCT的强大设计潜力使真正的便携式系统得以实现。Bioptigen，Inc.，附属于杜克大学的一家创业公司，已经销售了使用传统和手持传递光学器件在830 nm波长下操作的最先进的视网膜FDOCT系统，并且还销售了用于小动物成像和其他临床前研究应用的基于桌面显微镜的1300 nm波长OCT系统。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小于4毫米，这对于全深度眼前节成像是不够的。在SBIR第一阶段提案中，Bioptigen建议调整其1300 nm OCT和手持式探头技术，以实现高速、手持式、全深度眼前节成像，这将使眼科OCT成像的益处适用于更广泛的受试者类别，包括卧床不起和婴儿患者，以及用于生物医学和兽医研究的各种大小的动物（从小鼠到马）。在这第一阶段的小企业创新研究应用，Bioptigen公司。提出了一种用于临床和应用研究应用的便携式、手持式角膜和眼前节光学相干断层扫描（CAS-OCT）扫描仪的原型。该成像系统将能够通过开发一种消除复杂共轭伪影的新方法来对眼前节的全深度（> 6 mm）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.