Deformable Mirror for Adaptive Optics OCT

光学方法可以对生物组织的结构和血流进行成像，并以非侵入性和细胞级分辨率在体内探测其正常/异常功能，可以在临床上用于实时、非接触式光学（虚拟）活检。因此，它们有可能彻底改变早期诊断，并帮助治疗（手术和非手术）许多疾病，从潜在的致盲性神经退行性视网膜疾病到各种类型的癌症。光学相干断层扫描（OCT）是一种成像模式，可以在体内成像，非侵入性和同时的细胞结构，血流和生理功能的生物组织。然而，OCT图像遭受光学像差，诸如散焦、像散和色差，这导致图像失真和模糊。自适应光学（AO）可以测量波前像差并在检测到的光束中对其进行校正，从而生成成像物体的高分辨率、无像差图像。AO可以与其他光学成像模式（如OCT）相结合，以提高其对映空间分辨率。 最近，我们的研究小组已经建立了一个线扫描OCT（LS-OCT）系统，该系统利用一个高速相机，可以以5，000 fps或更高的成像速率获取生物组织的体积图像，同时提供约2 µm的细胞级分辨率。在这里，我们建议升级具有AO臂的LS-OCT系统，以允许校正LS-OCT图像中的像差。为了升级LS-OCT系统，我们需要资金购买2个组件：用于校正OCT成像光束中的像差的可变形镜;以及用于替换用于为LS-OCT供电的激光器的宽带光源，该激光器最近发生故障并且无法修复。从事这项研究的学生将受益于通过开发新的AO-LS-OCT系统及其提供的功能而更具竞争力的研究。这将使他们的工作能够在高影响因子期刊上发表，如“自然生物光子学”和“光科学与应用”。

Optical methods that can image the structure and blood flow of biological tissue and probe its normal / abnormal function in-vivo, non-invasively and with cellular-level resolution, can be used clinically for real-time, non-contact optical (virtual) biopsy. As such, they have the potential to revolutionize the early diagnostics and to aid the treatment (surgical and non-surgical) of many diseases, from potentially blinding neurodegenerative retinal diseases to various types of cancer. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is an imaging modality that can image in-vivo, non-invasively and simultaneously the cellular structure, blood flow and physiological function of biological tissue. However, the OCT images suffer from optical aberrations such as defocus, astigmatism and chromatic aberrations, which cause image distortions and blur. Adaptive Optics (AO) can measure the wavefront aberrations and correct for them in the detected optical beam, thus generating high resolution, aberrations-free images of the imaged object. AO can be combined with other optical imaging modalities such as OCT, to improve their enaface spatial resolution. Recently, our research group has built a Line-Scan-OCT (LS-OCT) system that utilizes an ultrahigh speed camera and can acquire volumetric images of biological tissue at imaging rates of 5,000 fps or higher, while providing cellular level resolution of ~ 2 µm. Here, we propose to upgrade the LS-OCT system with an AO arm, to allow for correcting of aberrations in the LS-OCT images. To upgrade the LS-OCT system we require funds to purchase 2 components: a deformable mirror for correcting the aberrations in the OCT imaging beam; and a broad bandwidth light source to replace the laser that was used to power the LS-OCT and which recently broke down and is beyond repair. Students working on this research will benefit from research that is made more competitive through the development of the new AO-LS-OCT system and the capabilities it will provide. It will enable their work to be published in high-impact factor journals such as "Nature Biophotonics" and Light Science and Applications".