Manufacturable and reliable electrically pumped micro-electromechanically tunable vertical cavity surface emitting lasers for low-cost ophthalmic swept source optical coherence tomography

可制造且可靠的电泵微机电可调谐垂直腔表面发射激光器，用于低成本眼科扫频源光学相干断层扫描

• 批准号: 9348365
• 负责人: Christopher Burgner
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: PRAEVIUM RESEARCH, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-30 至 2020-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9348365
• 关键词: Acceleration; Address; Angiography; Anterior; Applications Grants; Area; Beds; Biometry; Blindness; Caring; Cessation of life; Communication; Computer software; Data; Detection; Devices; Diffusion; Dyes; Early Diagnosis; Environment; Exudative age-related macular degeneration; Eye; Failure; Feedback; Foundations; Funding; Generations; Goals; Grant; Hour; Image; Injection of therapeutic agent; Ions; Lasers; Lateral; Life; Measurement; Mechanics; Modality; Monitor; Nonexudative age-related macular degeneration; Ophthalmology; Optical Coherence Tomography; Optics; Output; Performance; Population; Price; Public Health; Pump; Research; Research Infrastructure; Retinal; Retinal Diseases; Running; Scanning; Semiconductors; Source; Speed; Structure; Surface; System; Technology; Temperature; Testing; Time; Vacuum; Width; Work; Zinc; base; clinical Diagnosis; commercialization; cost; density; design; flexibility; image processing; imaging modality; implantation; improved; instrument; non-invasive imaging; noninvasive diagnosis; operation; oxidation; patient population; prevent; submicron; tool

The ultimate goal of this effort is to bring advanced ophthalmic swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) imaging to low cost broadly accessible environments. SS-OCT is a powerful non-invasive diagnostic imaging modality, and an increasingly valuable tool in the early detection and monitoring of a number of retinal diseases, as well as in anterior eye and whole eye imaging. A key driver of high cost of for these systems has been the cost and complexity of the wavelength swept laser source, which is the most technologically advanced component of SS-OCT system. Most commercial wavelength-swept sources are assembled discretely from separate optical components requiring precision sub-micron alignments. Over the last 3 years, however, funded in part by NEI grant R44EY022864, Praevium Research has developed a monolithic chip-scale wavelength-swept laser source based on electrically pumped micro-electromechanical systems vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (MEMS-VCSELs). These devices can be fabricated and tested in lots of thousands on a wafer scale, creating the possibility of fabrication costs of a few dollars per device. In addition, the record imaging range and high and flexible imaging speed of MEMS-VCSELs has enabled retinal imaging, anterior eye imaging and whole eye imaging for ocular biometry to be performed in a single multi-modal instrument for the first time. The rapid tuning speed has been combined with advanced image processing to enable dye free OCT angiography (OCTA), which is capable of imaging key early markers associated with both wet and dry AMD and DR. Applications of this new OCTA technology continue to emerge. Manufacturability and reliability challenges remain significant barriers to volume commercialization of MEMS-eVCSELs. These challenges constitute a classic “valley of death” between technology demonstration and commercial product. SSOCT imaging places stringent requirements on MEMS- eVCSEL tuning range, tuning speed, polarization, and spectral purity, which are without precedent in other semiconductor laser applications. Additionally, these critical parameters must be achieved with sufficient yield to meet aggressive price targets necessary for high-volume low cost applications, and be maintained over a several thousand hour lifetime. This work therefore seeks to address and overcome the manufacturability and reliability challenges associated with MEMS-eVCSELs, and lay a foundation for high-volume commercialization of these devices.

这项努力的最终目标是带来先进的眼科扫频光源光学相干性 断层扫描 (SS-OCT) 成像可用于低成本、广泛可访问的环境。 SS-OCT 功能强大 非侵入性诊断成像方式，以及早期检测和诊断中越来越有价值的工具 监测多种视网膜疾病以及前眼和全眼成像。一把钥匙 这些系统的高成本驱动因素是波长扫频激光器的成本和复杂性 源，它是SS-OCT系统中技术最先进的组件。最商业化 波长扫描源由单独的光学元件分开组装，需要 精确的亚微米对准。然而，在过去 3 年中，部分资金由 NEI 资助 R44EY022864，Praevium Research开发出单片芯片级波长扫描激光器 基于电泵微机电系统垂直腔表面发射的光源 激光器（MEMS-VCSEL）。这些器件可以在晶圆上制造和测试数千个 规模化，使得每个设备的制造成本可能降低到几美元。另外，记录 MEMS-VCSEL 的成像范围和高且灵活的成像速度使视网膜成像成为可能， 用于眼生物测量的前眼成像和全眼成像在单一多模态中进行 第一次使用乐器。快速的调谐速度与先进的图像相结合 处理以实现无染料 OCT 血管造影 (OCTA)，能够对关键部位进行早期成像 与湿性和干性 AMD 和 DR 相关的标记。这种新的OCTA技术的应用 不断涌现。 可制造性和可靠性挑战仍然是批量商业化的重大障碍 MEMS-eVCSEL。这些挑战构成了技术之间典型的“死亡之谷” 示范和商业产品。 SSOCT 成像对 MEMS 提出了严格的要求 eVCSEL调谐范围、调谐速度、偏振和光谱纯度，这在业界是史无前例的 其他半导体激光器应用。此外，这些关键参数必须通过以下方式实现： 足够的产量以满足大批量低成本应用所需的激进价格目标，以及 使用寿命长达数千小时。因此，这项工作旨在解决和 克服与 MEMS-eVCSEL 相关的可制造性和可靠性挑战，并奠定了 为这些设备的大规模商业化奠定了基础。