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）扫频光源实现新一代高性能、低成本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850 nm和1050 nm波长的扫频光源OCT（SS-OCT）的VCSEL技术来实现。这项工作建立在由Praevium Research和马萨诸塞州理工学院（MIT）的合作者获得的1310 nm和1050 nm光学泵浦VCSEL OCT的强大初步数据基础上。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。VCSEL的独特功能使基本轴向扫描速率高达1 MHz，比当前商用谱域OCT（SD-OCT）眼科系统快20- 40倍，可调扫描速率实现高速和长成像范围操作机制，成像范围比商用SD-OCT眼科系统大10倍以上。这些优点有望实现能够进行视网膜、前眼和眼轴长度成像的具有成本效益的多模式OCT仪器。这种新一代眼科技术将实现宽视野3D-OCT视网膜成像，用于评估视网膜病变，对前眼进行成像，以改善屈光力测量，并对眼轴长度成像，以改善眼内透镜（IOL）植入评估。VCSEL的独特性能特征还将促进功能成像，例如多普勒和偏振敏感OCT（PS-OCT）。拟议的计划将建立在Praevium Research的光泵，放大1310 nm VCSEL的结果基础上，该研究是在先前NIH资助的用于OCT癌症成像的VCSEL的努力下进行的，以开发用于眼科成像的850 nm和1050 nm的新型电泵，高功率VCSEL。这些进步是可行的，因为眼科OCT和成熟的砷化镓材料的功率要求较低。纯电泵浦VCSEL技术将代表用于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。这将反过来使眼科OCT渗透到新市场和临床环境中。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确认来实现。VCSEL的性能将通过采用先进的设计和处理方法来提高，每一代VCSEL都将与视网膜，全眼和前眼的合作者一起集成到正在进行的临床研究中 显像

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.