Confocal retinal imaging using a digital light projector with a near infrared VCSEL source

A custom near infrared VCSEL source has been implemented in a confocal non-mydriatic retinal camera, the Digital Light Ophthalmoscope (DLO). The use of near infrared light improves patient comfort, avoids pupil constriction, penetrates the deeper retina, and does not mask visual stimuli. The DLO performs confocal imaging by synchronizing a sequence of lines displayed with a digital micromirror device to the rolling shutter exposure of a 2D CMOS camera. Real-time software adjustments enable multiply scattered light imaging, which rapidly and cost-effectively emphasizes drusen and other scattering disruptions in the deeper retina. A separate 5.1” LCD display provides customizable visible stimuli for vision experiments with simultaneous near infrared imaging.

[1]  Feng Xiao,et al.  Diffraction of digital micromirror device gratings and its effect on properties of tunable fiber lasers. , 2012, Applied optics.

[2]  Ann E Elsner,et al.  Non-mydriatic confocal retinal imaging using a digital light projector , 2013, Photonics West - Biomedical Optics.

[3]  Stephen A. Burns,et al.  Metrics of tissue oxygenation in the retina using adaptive optics and OCT-A technology , 2017 .

[4]  Sjoerd Stallinga,et al.  Development of a DMD-based fluorescence microscope , 2015, Photonics West - Biomedical Optics.

[5]  Stephen A. Burns,et al.  Infrared imaging of sub-retinal structures in the human ocular fundus , 1996, Vision Research.

[6]  Matthew S Muller.  A pico projector source for confocal fluorescence and ophthalmic imaging , 2012, Other Conferences.

[7]  YongKeun Park,et al.  Active illumination using a digital micromirror device for quantitative phase imaging. , 2015, Optics letters.

[8]  Ann E. Elsner,et al.  Assessing live visualization of stimuli on the retina during visual function testing , 2017 .

[9]  S Burns,et al.  Scanning laser reflectometry of retinal and subretinal tissues. , 2000, Optics express.

[10]  Daniel S. Elson,et al.  A tunable supercontinuum laser using a digital micromirror device , 2012 .

[11]  Larry Kagemann,et al.  A review of methods for human retinal oximetry. , 2003, Ophthalmic surgery, lasers & imaging : the official journal of the International Society for Imaging in the Eye.

[12]  Ann E Elsner,et al.  Fixation Stability and Scotoma Mapping for Patients With Low Vision , 2013, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[13]  M. Killingsworth,et al.  Early drusen formation in the normal and aging eye and their relation to age related maculopathy: a clinicopathological study , 1999, The British journal of ophthalmology.