VCSEL technology for ultrahigh speed OCT retinal and anterior eye imaging

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目的最终目标是基于新型mems可调谐垂直腔面发射激光器（MEMS-VCSEL）扫光光源，实现新一代高性能，低成本的眼科光学相干断层扫描OCT技术。这将通过开发、验证和商业化用于眼科成像的850nm和1050nm波长扫频源OCT （SS-OCT）的VCSEL技术来实现。这项工作建立在由Praevium Research和麻省理工学院（MIT）的合作者获得的1310nm和1050nm光泵VCSELs用于OCT的强大初步数据的基础上。这项先前的工作已经证明了vcsel用于SS-OCT成像的许多性能优势。VCSELs的独特功能使基本轴向扫描速率高达1MHz，比当前商用光谱域OCT （SD-OCT）眼科系统快20-40倍，可调节的扫描速率使高速和长成像范围工作机制成为可能，成像范围比商用SD-OCT眼科系统多10倍。这些优点有望实现具有成本效益的多模态OCT仪器，能够进行视网膜，眼前眼和眼轴长度成像。这种新一代眼科技术将实现用于评估视网膜病理的大视场3D-OCT视网膜成像，用于改进屈光度测量的前眼成像，以及用于改进人工晶状体（IOL）植入评估的眼轴长成像。VCSELs的独特性能也将促进功能成像，如多普勒和偏振敏感OCT （PS-OCT）。拟议的项目将建立在Praevium Research的光学泵浦，放大1310nm vcsel的成果基础上，该研究是在之前美国国立卫生研究院资助的用于OCT癌症成像的vcsel上进行的，以开发新的850纳米和1050nm电泵浦，用于眼科成像的高功率vcsel。这些进步是可行的低功耗要求眼科OCT和成熟的砷化镓材料。纯电泵VCSEL技术将代表SS-OCT的第一个单片晶圆级激光源，显著降低激光源和OCT系统的成本。这将使眼科OCT进入新的市场和临床环境。这些广泛的目标将通过解决激光开发，OCT系统开发和临床系统验证来实现。通过结合先进的设计和处理方法，VCSEL的性能将得到提高，每一代VCSEL都将整合到视网膜、全眼和前眼的临床研究中

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ultimate goal of this program is to enable a new generation of high performance, low cost ophthalmic Optical Coherence Tomography OCT technology based on new MEMS-tunable vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (MEMS-VCSEL) swept light sources. This will be accomplished by developing, validating, and commercializing VCSEL technology for swept source OCT (SS-OCT) at 850nm and 1050nm wavelengths used for ophthalmic imaging. This work builds upon strong preliminary data using optically pumped VCSELs for OCT at both 1310nm and 1050nm obtained by Praevium Research and collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This prior work has demonstrated numerous performance advantages of VCSELs for SS-OCT imaging. The unique features of VCSELs enable fundamental axial scan rates up to 1MHz, 20-40x faster than current commercial spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) ophthalmic systems, adjustable sweep rates enabling high speed and long imaging range operating regimes, with imaging ranges >10x more than commercial SD-OCT ophthalmic systems. These advantages promise to enable a cost-effective, multi-modal OCT instrument capable of retinal, anterior eye and axial eye length imaging. This new generation of ophthalmic technology will enable wide field 3D-OCT retinal imaging for assessing retinal pathology, imaging the anterior eye for improved refractive power measurement, and axial eye length imaging for improved intraocular lens (IOL) implant assessment. The unique performance features of VCSELs will also facilitate functional imaging such as Doppler and polarization-sensitive OCT (PS-OCT). The proposed program will build upon results from optically pumped, amplified 1310nm VCSELs from Praevium Research under a previous NIH-funded effort on VCSELs for OCT cancer imaging, to develop new electrically pumped, high power VCSELs at 850nm and 1050nm for ophthalmic imaging. These advances are made feasible by lower power requirements for ophthalmic OCT and mature Gallium Arsenide materials. A pure electrically pumped VCSEL technology would represent the first monolithic wafer-scale laser source for SS-OCT, significantly reducing the cost of laser sources and OCT systems. This would in turn enable penetration of ophthalmic OCT into new markets and clinical settings. These broad goals will be realized by addressing laser development, OCT system development, and clinical system validation. VCSEL performance will be increased by incorporating advanced designs and processing methods, with each generation of VCSELs integrated into ongoing clinical studies with collaborators in retinal, whole eye, and anterior eye imaging.