Wavefront sensor and high voltage multi-channel (>100) driver for adaptive optics based ophthalmoscopic imaging

该申请旨在获得资金购买波前传感器和多通道高压驱动器，以支持“基于可变形微镜的自适应光学（AO）眼科成像技术”的研究。眼部疾病的早期诊断和治疗依赖于高分辨率视网膜图像。目前眼底相机、扫描激光检眼镜（SLO）、光学相干断层扫描（OCT）检眼镜等检眼底成像技术可以提供活体视网膜的宏观视图，但由于角膜表面和晶状体造成的眼像差，它们不具备在单细胞空间尺度上显示视网膜特征所需的横向分辨率。基于可变形微镜的自适应光学（AO）是纠正这些眼像差的关键，从而将视网膜成像系统的分辨率从目前的5~10微米提高到2~3微米。一种用于视觉科学的可变形微镜光学像差校正模块，由测量光学像差的波前传感器、控制器和多路高压驱动的可变形微镜组成。可变形微镜AO系统的关键部件是大行程面外微致动器。一组这样的驱动器形成了可变形的微镜。申请人课题组成功研制了一种新型大行程微静电执行器。集成10x10大行程驱动器的可变形微镜的设计已经完成并送制造。目前，申请者课题组正在开展可变形微镜与波前传感器和多通道高压驱动器的集成研究。因此，波前传感器和多通道高压驱动器迫切需要继续这个多年的项目，并开发用于眼科成像的微镜AO模块。这种技术的成功开发将大大改善青光眼等眼病的早期诊断和治疗，青光眼是加拿大第二大致盲原因，影响着30万加拿大人。

The application is to acquire funds to purchase a wavefront sensor and a multi-channel high voltage driver to support the research on "Deformable Micromirror Based Adaptive Optics (AO) Technology for Ophthalmoscopic Imaging". Early diagnosis and treatment of eye disease rely on high resolution retinal images. The current ophthalmoscopic imaging technology such as fundus cameras, the scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) and the optical coherence tomography (OCT) ophthalmoscope can provide a macroscopic view of the living retina, but they do not have the transverse resolution needed to reveal retinal features on the spatial scale of single cells due to ocular aberrations caused by corneal surfaces and crystalline lenses. Deformable micromirror based Adaptive Optics (AO) is key to correcting these ocular aberrations, and thus improve the resolution of retinal imagining systems from the current 5~10 micrometers to 2~3 micrometers. A deformable micromirror based AO module able to correct ocular aberrations for vision science consists of a wavefront sensor to measure optical aberrations, a controller, a deformable micromirror driven by a multi-channel high voltage driver for correcting aberrations. The critical component of the deformable micromirror AO system is a large stroke out-of-plane micro actuator. An array of such actuators form the deformable micromirror. The applicants research groups have successfully developed a novel large stroke micro electrostatic actuator. The design of the deformable micromirror integrating 10x10 such large stroke actuators has been completed and sent for fabrication. Presently the applicants research groups are starting the integration of the deformable micromirror with the wavefront sensor and the multi-channel high voltage driver. The wavefront sensor and multi-channel high voltage driver are thus urgently needed to continue this multi-year project and to develop the micromirror AO module for ophthalmoscopic imaging. The successful development of such technology will significantly improve early diagnosis and treatment of eye disease such as glaucoma, which is the second most common cause of blindness in Canada and is affecting 300,000 Canadians.