Retinal/choroidal imaging with transcranial back-illumination

摘要 人类的视网膜成像通常是使用眼底相机进行的，它将光线发送到 受试者的眼睛并记录从视网膜反射的光的图像。我们的目标是发展 一种替代的成像策略，基于通过受试者的 坦普尔。光线通过骨骼扩散，并照亮视网膜，而不是从前面，就像在 标准眼底相机，但大部分是从后面拍的。因此，我们将图像光传输到 通过视网膜而不是从视网膜反射。除了没有眩光和 允许更深的图像穿透脉络膜，我们假设透射光 成像揭示了与反射光成像本质上不同的组织结构。我们的战略 将与现有的眼底相机兼容，支持传输和反射模式 准同时运行，允许直接比较两种模式和一种 他们提供的信息的潜在融合。 具体地说，我们建议为我们的设备配备八种不同的LED照明波长， 其中任何两个都可以同时运行，我们建议从其中识别出各种 生色团的分布，如氧合和脱氧血红蛋白和黑色素。我们假设 这种延伸深度的生色团图谱将提供有用的有价值的信息 用于黄斑变性的潜在诊断和研究，并用于实时监测 血液动力学方面。为了评估我们的设备的性能及其在临床上的潜在用途， 我们已经得到了塔夫茨医疗中心的Elias Reichel博士的帮助，他有临床上的 有眼底和OCT成像的经验。

ABSTRACT Human retinal imaging is conventionally performed with a fundus camera, which sends light into the subject’s eye and records images of the light reflected from the retina. Our goal is to develop an alternative imaging strategy based on light delivered transcranially through the subject’s temple. The light diffuses through the bone and illuminates the retina not from the front, as in a standard fundus camera, but rather mostly from the back. As such, we image light transmitted through the retina rather than reflected from the retina. In addition to being glare-free and allowing deeper image penetration well into the choroid, we hypothesize that transmitted-light imaging reveals qualitatively different tissue structure than reflected-light imaging. Our strategy will be compatible with existing fundus cameras, enabling transmission and reflection modalities to be operated quasi-simultaneously, allowing a direct comparison of the two modalities and a potential fusion of the information they provide. Specifically, we propose to equip our device with eight different LED illumination wavelengths, any two of which can be operated simultaneously, from which we propose to identify a variety of chromophore distributions such as oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin and melanin. We hypothesize that such chromophore mapping over extended depths will provide valuable information useful for the potential diagnosis and study of macular degeneration, and for the real-time monitoring of hemodynamics. To gauge the performance of our device and its potential utility in the clinic, we have enlisted the help of Dr. Elias Reichel at the Tufts Medical Center, who has clinical experience with both fundus and OCT imaging.