Low cost retinal optical coherence tomography for point of care use

 描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的目的是创建一种用于床旁环境的新型光学相干断层扫描（OCT）系统的临床原型。目标系统价格将是目前可用的研究OCT系统价格的三分之一，同时提供与其他入门级OCT成像系统相当的系统性能。通过打破10，000美元的系统障碍，我们将提供一个深刻的工具，这将是破坏性的市场，使OCT进入大多数诊所。我们已经与眼科医生交谈，他们确认需要这种系统来检测和监测糖尿病视网膜病变、青光眼、早产儿视网膜病变和黄斑变性。眼科是第一个临床目标，但我们已经与其他专业的用户进行了交谈，包括耳鼻喉科，肿瘤学，皮肤病学，神经病学和胃肠病学。通过显著降低仪器成本，该OCT系统将可负担得起用于护理点和广泛的研究应用。这一价格点也打开了发展中国家的市场，这些国家了解临床OCT的价值，但目前临床系统过于昂贵。这里提出的研究计划将创建一个低成本仪器的原型，该原型利用基于新可用组件的创新系统架构，同时提供OCT的所有成像功能。我们建议实现以下里程碑：（1）将子系统作为便携式组件实现，（2）集成子系统和软件，以及（3）使用OCT眼模型对整个便携式系统进行检查和测试。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this research is to create a clinical prototype of a new optical coherence tomography (OCT) system for use in point of care settings. The target system price will be one third the price of currently available research OCT system while providing system performance comparable to other entry level OCT imaging systems. By breaking the $10,000 system barrier we will provide an incisive tool that will be disruptive to the market by making OCT accessible to most clinics. We have spoken with ophthalmologists who confirm the need for this system in the detection and monitoring of diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, retinopathy of prematurity, and macular degeneration. Ophthalmology is the first clinical target but we have talked to users from other specialties including, ENT, oncology, dermatology, neurology, and gastroenterology. By significantly reducing instrument cost, this OCT system will be affordable for use at the point of care and in a wide range of research applications. This price point also opens markets in developing countries where the value of clinical OCT is understood, but currently clinical systems are too expensive. The research plan, proposed here, will create a prototype of the low cost instrument that utilizes an innovative system architecture based on newly available components while delivering all the imaging capabilities of OCT. We propose to achieve the following milestones: (1) Implement sub-systems as portable components, (2) Integrate sub-systems and software, and (3) Validate and test the complete portable system using an OCT eye phantom.