Axially-resolved Spectroscopic Ophthalmic Imaging

 描述(由申请者提供)：早期发现眼病对于预防影响3800多万美国人的视力丧失至关重要。目前的诊断工具通常只有在视力丧失后才能显示视网膜的变化。视觉功能的测试受到主观性的限制，也受到来自数十到数千个视网膜细胞的信号汇集的限制。视网膜结构的测试受到个体之间巨大解剖差异的限制，这使得没有基线测量就不可能早期发现疾病。因此，在大多数情况下，结构测试只能检测到主要细胞死亡后的宏观变化。这些限制可以通过一种非侵入性的方法来克服，这种方法可以检测细胞死亡之前的化学变化。为此，我们将开发两种新技术，自适应纵向色差(LCA)校正和轴向分辨率高光谱视网膜成像。这些将与眼科自适应光学相结合，以表征特发性视网膜前膜的光谱，无论是否有相关的视网膜牵引或黄斑裂孔，以及年龄相关性黄斑变性和中心性浆液性视网膜病变。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Early detection of eye disease is critical for preventing vision loss that affects more than 38 million Americans. Current diagnostic tools often reveal retinal changes only after vision loss has already occurred. Tests of visual function are limited by their subjectivity, and by the pooling of signals from tens to thousands of retinal cells. Tests of retinal structure are limited by the substantial anatomical variation among individuals, which makes early disease detection impossible without baseline measurements. In most cases structural tests can therefore detect only macroscopic changes that follow major cell death. These limitations could be overcome by a non-invasive method to detect chemical changes that precede cell death. For this purpose, we will develop two novel technologies, adaptive longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA) correction and axially- resolved hyperspectral retinal imaging. These will be demonstrated in combination with ophthalmic adaptive optics, to characterize the spectra of idiopathic epiretinal membranes, with or without associated retinal traction or macular hole, as well as age-related macular degeneration and central serous retinopathy.