Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080221819 | Method of motion correction in optical coherence tomography imaging - An image data set acquired by an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system is corrected for effects due to motion of the sample. A first set of A-scans is acquired within a time short enough to avoid any significant motion of the sample. A second more extensive set of A-scans is acquired over an overlapping region on the sample. Significant sample motion may occur during acquisition of the second set. A-scans from the first set are matched with A-scans from the second set, based on similarity between the longitudinal optical scattering profiles they contain. Such matched pairs of A-scans are likely to correspond to the same region in the sample. Comparison of the OCT scanner coordinates that produced each A-scan in a matching pair, in conjunction with any shift in the longitudinal scattering profiles between the pair of A-scans, reveals the displacement of the sample between acquisition of the first and second A-scans in the pair. Estimates of the sample displacement are used to correct the transverse and longitudinal coordinates of the A-scans in the second set, to form a motion-corrected OCT data set. | 09-11-2008 |
20080239294 | High efficiency balanced detection interferometer - An interferometer configured for use in optical coherence domain (OCT) reflectometry systems is disclosed. In the preferred embodiments, efficient routing of light and a balanced detection arrangement provide a high signal to noise ratio. In one set of embodiments, a pair of cascaded 2×2 couplers is used to split light along separate sample and reference paths and also for combining light returning from those paths and supplying the interfered collected light to the detection system. The interferometer can be used with various OCT modalities including time-domain and frequency domain approaches. | 10-02-2008 |
20100110376 | VARIABLE RESOLUTION OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SCANNER AND METHOD FOR USING SAME - The invention relates generally to optical tomographic imaging and in particular to systems and methods for adapting the resolution of imaging. One embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for optical coherence tomography imaging, characterized by its ability to vary the axial resolution and scanning speed during imaging. | 05-06-2010 |
20100226542 | METHOD OF BIOIMAGE DATA PROCESSING FOR REVEALING MORE MEANINGFUL ANATOMIC FEATURES OF DISEASED TISSUES - The present invention discloses a method for generating elevation maps or images of a tissue layer/boundary with respect to a fitted reference surface, comprising the steps of finding and segmenting a desired tissue layer/boundary; fitting a smooth reference surface to the segmented tissue layer/boundary; calculating elevations of the same or other tissue layer/boundary relative to the fitted reference surface; and generating maps of elevation relative to the fitted surface. The elevation can be displayed in various ways including three-dimensional surface renderings, topographical contour maps, contour maps, en-face color maps, and en-face grayscale maps. The elevation can also be combined and simultaneously displayed with another tissue layer/boundary dependent set of image data to provide additional information for diagnostics. | 09-09-2010 |
20100245838 | METHOD OF MOTION CORRECTION IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGING - An image data set acquired by an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system is corrected for effects due to motion of the sample. A first set of A-scans is acquired within a time short enough to avoid any significant motion of the sample. A second more extensive set of A-scans is acquired over an overlapping region on the sample. Significant sample motion may occur during acquisition of the second set. A-scans from the first set are matched with A-scans from the second set, based on similarity between the longitudinal optical scattering profiles they contain. Such matched pairs of A-scans are likely to correspond to the same region in the sample. Comparison of the OCT scanner coordinates that produced each A-scan in a matching pair, in conjunction with any shift in the longitudinal scattering profiles between the pair of A-scans, reveals the displacement of the sample between acquisition of the first and second A-scans in the pair. Estimates of the sample displacement are used to correct the transverse and longitudinal coordinates of the A-scans in the second set, to form a motion-corrected OCT data set. | 09-30-2010 |
20100278402 | METHODS FOR MAPPING TISSUE WITH OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY DATA - Various methods are disclosed for mapping optical coherence tomography (OCT) data to facilitate review and diagnosis. In one aspect, high resolution 2D line scans are obtained along with lower density 3D cube scans and displayed in a manner to provide context to the clinician. In another aspect, QCT data is analyzed to provide information about non-uniformities of the tissue. Binary image maps of maps useful for determining tautness of membranes are also disclosed. | 11-04-2010 |
20110007321 | SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SYSTEM - An optical coherence tomography device is disclosed for improved imaging. Reduced levels of speckle in the images generated by the device are obtained by forming a B-scan from a plurality of A-scans, wherein each resolution cell of the B-scan is generated through compounding of a subset of the A-scans and wherein at least some of the subset of A-scans are separated by at least half the diameter of a speckle cell both tangent to and orthogonal to the B-scan at that cell. | 01-13-2011 |
20110043757 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MOTION OF A SUBJECT USING A SERIES OF PARTIAL IMAGES FROM AN IMAGING SYSTEM - A line scan imager is used to determine the motion of a subject. Each line of image data from the line scan imager is compared with a reference image. The location of a matching line in the reference image reveals the displacement of the subject. The current subject displacement can be determined based on each line of image data. The resulting displacement information can be used to correctly place other optical beams on the subject. The method can be applied to tracking the human eye to facilitate measurement, imaging, or treatment with a beam of optical radiation. | 02-24-2011 |
20110190657 | GLAUCOMA COMBINATORIAL ANALYSIS - The subject invention relates to combinatorial analyses of data from two or more diagnostic tests for the detection of eye diseases, simplified interpretation of test results, and assessment of disease stage and rate of change. Of particular interest is to develop combinatorial analyses to improve glaucoma detection and progression rate assessment based on combinations of structural and functional tests. More specifically, approaches are described where data of one or more tests and their normative database are converted to the distribution and scale of another test for further analysis to detect glaucomatous damage; approaches are also described where data of more than one tests are used to assess stage index and rate of change; in addition, methods for displaying the combinatorial analysis results are disclosed. | 08-04-2011 |
20120045101 | METHOD OF BIOIMAGE DATA PROCESSING FOR REVEALING MORE MEANINGFUL ANATOMIC FEATURES OF DISEASED TISSUES - The present invention discloses a method for generating elevation maps or images of a tissue layer/boundary with respect to a fitted reference surface, comprising the steps of finding and segmenting a desired tissue layer/boundary; fitting a smooth reference surface to the segmented tissue layer/boundary; calculating elevations of the same or other tissue layer/boundary relative to the fitted reference surface; and generating maps of elevation relative to the fitted surface. The elevation can be displayed in various ways including three-dimensional surface renderings, topographical contour maps, contour maps, en-face color maps, and en-face grayscale maps. The elevation can also be combined and simultaneously displayed with another tissue layer/boundary dependent set of image data to provide additional information for diagnostics. | 02-23-2012 |
20120128222 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MOTION OF A SUBJECT USING A SERIES OF PARTIAL IMAGES FROM AN IMAGING SYSTEM - A line scan imager is used to determine the motion of a subject. Each line of image data from the line scan imager is compared with a reference image. The location of a matching line in the reference image reveals the displacement of the subject. The current subject displacement can be determined based on each line of image data. The resulting displacement information can be used to correctly place other optical beams on the subject. The method can be applied to tracking the human eye to facilitate measurement, imaging, or treatment with a beam of optical radiation. | 05-24-2012 |
20120140175 | METHOD OF MOTION CORRECTION IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGING - An image data set acquired by an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system is corrected for effects due to motion of the sample. A first set of A-scans is acquired within a time short enough to avoid any significant motion of the sample. A second more extensive set of A-scans is acquired over an overlapping region on the sample. A-scans from the first set are matched with A-scans from the second set. Comparison of the OCT scanner coordinates that produced each A-scan in a matching pair reveals the displacement of the sample between acquisition of the first and second A-scans in the pair. Estimates of the sample displacement are used to correct the transverse and longitudinal coordinates of the A-scans in the second set, to form a motion-corrected OCT data set. | 06-07-2012 |
20120249956 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EFFICIENTLY OBTAINING MEASUREMENTS OF THE HUMAN EYE USING TRACKING - Systems and methods for efficiently obtaining optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurement data with reduced effects of motion are presented. One embodiment involves determining the amount of motion present during the collection of an OCT data set based on images of the eye collected at the same time as the OCT data, and recollecting select portions of the OCT data set when the amount of eye motion is determined to exceed a predetermined threshold. Another embodiment includes enabling or disabling a tracking feature based on the quality of the images available for tracking. Another embodiment includes reducing the effect of motion in the axial direction based on a comparison to a model of the eye constructed from OCT data. The method can also be used to reduce the presence of mirror image artifacts in an OCT image. | 10-04-2012 |
20120277579 | INTER-FRAME COMPLEX OCT DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES - Techniques for collecting and processing complex OCT data to detect localized motion contrast information with enhanced accuracy and sensitivity are presented. In a preferred embodiment, vector differences between complex OCT signals taken at the same location on the sample are used to detect blood flow in the retina. Additional embodiments involving non-linear intensity weighting of the motion contrast information, normalization of the vector difference amplitudes, and calculating the absolute value of the standard deviation of Doppler signal are described. Image processing techniques to enhance the images resulting from these motion contrast techniques are also presented. | 11-01-2012 |
20120308108 | METHOD OF BIOIMAGE DATA PROCESSING FOR REVEALING MORE MEANINGFUL ANATOMIC FEATURES OF DISEASED TISSUES - The present invention discloses a method for generating elevation maps or images of a tissue layer/boundary with respect to a fitted reference surface, comprising the steps of finding and segmenting a desired tissue layer/boundary; fitting a smooth reference surface to the segmented tissue layer/boundary; calculating elevations of the same or other tissue layer/boundary relative to the fitted reference surface; and generating maps of elevation relative to the fitted surface. The elevation can be displayed in various ways including three-dimensional surface renderings, topographical contour maps, contour maps, en-face color maps, and en-face grayscale maps. The elevation can also be combined and simultaneously displayed with another tissue layer/boundary dependent set of image data to provide additional information for diagnostics. | 12-06-2012 |
20130010260 | LIGHT FIELD CAMERA FOR FUNDUS PHOTOGRAPHY - Systems and methods for applying the concept of lightfield sensors to fundus photography are presented. In one embodiment, the ability to isolate specific regions of the collected lightfield are used to reduce the effects of glare in a fundus image. Additional embodiments in which aberrations can be characterized and removed, an image from a particular plane in the collected light field is used to aid in instrument alignment, and dynamic optimization of collection pupil diameter is accomplished are also presented. | 01-10-2013 |
20130010302 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVED BALANCED DETECTION IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGING - Systems and methods for reducing noise in balanced detection based optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems are described. Embodiments including both optical hardware and electronic based solutions to spectrally filter and attenuate the source reference light in optical coherence tomography in an effort to reduce RIN and FPN noise in OCT systems are presented. A novel application to electronic balanced detection schemes in which a single source of reference detection is balanced against the interferometric signals from multiple interferometers is also presented. | 01-10-2013 |
20130070204 | Systems and Methods for Refractive Correction in Visual Field Testing - Systems and methods for providing variable refractive correction in a visual field testing device are presented. One embodiment of the variable refractive correction involves two or more aligned transmissive plates arranged to produce changes in refractive power by translation or rotation of the plates relative to each other. Several alternative designs for providing variable refractive correction are described. The refractive correction can be set manually or automatically based on knowledge of the refractive error of a specific patient and spherical and cylindrical refractive correction are possible. Additional lens systems can be used to extend the range of refractive correction to accommodate a larger patient population. | 03-21-2013 |
20130100456 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SWEPT-SOURCE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY - Systems and methods for increasing the duty cycle and/or producing interleaved pulses of alternating polarization states in swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems are considered. Embodiments including improved buffering, frequency selecting filter sharing among multiple SOAs, intracavity switching, and multiple wavelength bands are described. The unique polarization properties of the source configurations have advantages in speckle reduction, polarization-sensitive measurements, polarization state dependent phase shifts, spatial shifts, and temporal shifts in OCT measurements. | 04-25-2013 |
20130120757 | METHODS, SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS OF VARIABLE IMAGING DEPTH IN FOURIER DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY - Systems, methods and applications for adjusting the imaging depth of a Fourier Domain optical coherence tomography system without impacting the axial resolution of the system are presented. One embodiment of the invention involves changing the sweep rate of a swept-source OCT system while maintaining the same data acquisition rate and spectral bandwidth of the source. Another embodiment involves changing the data acquisition rate of a SS-OCT system while maintaining the same sweep rate over the same spectral bandwidth. Several applications of variable imaging depth in the field of ophthalmic imaging are described. | 05-16-2013 |
20130176532 | DATA ACQUISITION METHODS FOR REDUCED MOTION ARTIFACTS AND APPLICATIONS IN OCT ANGIOGRAPHY - Systems and methods for reducing the effects of motion on functional optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging are described. Embodiments including post-processing and motion tracking are presented. A preferred embodiment in which functional OCT data is collected and analyzed for motion as a multiple scan unit is described. An extension of the invention to the collection of large field of view or montaged functional OCT data sets is also presented. | 07-11-2013 |
20130218927 | METHOD FOR SCALING OPHTHALMIC IMAGING MEASUREMENTS TO REFLECT FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY RISK - Methods for relating ophthalmic structural measurements to ophthalmic function are presented. The central idea is that each value for a given structural measurement can be empirically associated with a certain likelihood of disability or reduced function by measuring relevant patient populations in which some subjects have those disabilities This method is intended as an aid to doctors who manage glaucoma, or for the study of glaucoma or glaucoma therapy in clinical trials. The method could also be used in other progressive diseases where more than one method is used to diagnose and manage disease, and it is desirable to use a structural method to predict the risk of further functional loss. | 08-22-2013 |
20130222762 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MOTION OF A SUBJECT USING A SERIES OF PARTIAL IMAGES FROM AN IMAGING SYSTEM - A line scan imager is used to determine the motion of a subject. Each line of image data from the line scan imager is compared with a reference image. The location of a matching line in the reference image reveals the displacement of the subject. The current subject displacement can be determined based on each line of image data. The resulting displacement information can be used to correctly place other optical beams on the subject. The method can be applied to tracking the human eye to facilitate measurement, imaging, or treatment with a beam of optical radiation. | 08-29-2013 |
20130250241 | VARIABLE RESOLUTION OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SCANNER AND METHOD FOR USING SAME - The invention relates generally to optical tomographic imaging and in particular to systems and methods for adapting the resolution of imaging. One embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for optical coherence tomography imaging, characterized by its ability to vary the axial resolution and scanning speed during imaging. | 09-26-2013 |
20130281841 | METHOD OF BIOIMAGE DATA PROCESSING FOR REVEALING MORE MEANINGFUL ANATOMIC FEATURES OF DISEASED TISSUES - The present invention discloses a method for generating elevation maps or images of a tissue layer/boundary with respect to a fitted reference surface, comprising the steps of finding and segmenting a desired tissue layer/boundary; fitting a smooth reference surface to the segmented tissue layer/boundary; calculating elevations of the same or other tissue layer/boundary relative to the fitted reference surface; and generating maps of elevation relative to the fitted surface. The elevation can be displayed in various ways including three-dimensional surface renderings, topographical contour maps, contour maps, en-face color maps, and en-face grayscale maps. The elevation can also be combined and simultaneously displayed with another tissue layer/boundary dependent set of image data to provide additional information for diagnostics. | 10-24-2013 |
20130287277 | SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SYSTEM - An optical coherence tomography device is disclosed for improved imaging. Reduced levels of speckle in the images generated by the device are obtained by forming a B-scan from a plurality of A-scans, wherein each resolution cell of the B-scan is generated through compounding of a subset of the A-scans and wherein at least some of the subset of A-scans are separated by at least half the diameter of a speckle cell both tangent to and orthogonal to the B-scan at that cell. | 10-31-2013 |
20130289882 | INTER-FRAME COMPLEX OCT DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES - Techniques for collecting and processing complex OCT data to detect localized motion contrast information with enhanced accuracy and sensitivity are presented. In a preferred embodiment, vector differences between complex OCT signals taken at the same location on the sample are used to detect blood flow in the retina. Additional embodiments involving non-linear intensity weighting of the motion contrast information, normalization of the vector difference amplitudes, and calculating the absolute value of the standard deviation of Doppler signal are described. Image processing techniques to enhance the images resulting from these motion contrast techniques are also presented. | 10-31-2013 |
20140029015 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ARTIFACT SUPPRESSION BY FREQUENCY SHIFTING OR CAVITY LENGTH ADJUSTMENT - Swept source designs that eliminate or significantly reduce artifacts in optical coherence tomography are presented. One embodiment of the present invention is a source design that frequency shifts the coherence revival interference signal to a frequency larger than the A/D detection bandwidth or the post-processing bandwidth. In another embodiment, the introduced frequency shift is large enough to introduce a Doppler shift of the modes of the laser, which causes a blurring of the comb function, and thus eliminates or reduces mode hopping. In another embodiment, adjusting the cavity optical path length prior to data acquisition depending on the given optical layout configuration to reduce or eliminate coherence revival artifacts is described. | 01-30-2014 |
20140081130 | AUTOMATED ANALYSIS OF THE OPTIC NERVE HEAD: MEASUREMENTS, METHODS AND REPRESENTATIONS - The present invention relates to structural analysis of the optic nerve head (ONH). In one approach, a 3D volume of intensity data which includes the optic nerve head is acquired using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. The vitreoretinal interface (VRI) and the optic disc margin are identified from the 3D data. The minimum area of a surface from the optic disc margin to the VRI is determined. This minimum area can be displayed as an image or in the alternative, a value corresponding to this minimum area can be displayed. The minimum area measurement provides relevant clinical information to determine the health of the eye. | 03-20-2014 |
20140240670 | METHOD OF MOTION CORRECTION IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGING - An image data set acquired by an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system is corrected for effects due to motion of the sample. A first set of A-scans is acquired within a time short enough to avoid any significant motion of the sample. A second more extensive set of A-scans is acquired over an overlapping region on the sample. Significant sample motion may occur during acquisition of the second set. A-scans from the first set are matched with A-scans from the second set, based on similarity between the longitudinal optical scattering profiles they contain. Such matched pairs of A-scans are likely to correspond to the same region in the sample. Comparison of the OCT scanner coordinates that produced each A-scan in a matching pair, in conjunction with any shift in the longitudinal scattering profiles between the pair of A-scans, reveals the displacement of the sample between acquisition of the first and second A-scans in the pair. Estimates of the sample displacement are used to correct the transverse and longitudinal coordinates of the A-scans in the second set, to form a motion-corrected OCT data set. | 08-28-2014 |
20140307933 | METHODS TO REDUCE VARIANCE IN OCT ANALYSIS OF THE MACULA - Methods for analyzing optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the macula to reduce variance and improve disease diagnosis are presented. One embodiment of the invention is directed towards selecting analysis locations and data segmentation techniques to take advantage of structural homogeneities. Another embodiment is directed towards reducing the variance in a collection of normative data by transforming the individual members of the database to correspond to a Standard Macula. Variations in foveal size are corrected by radial transformation. Variations in layer thickness are corrected by axial shifting. Diagnosis is performed by comparing OCT images from a patient to the improved normative database. | 10-16-2014 |
20140362342 | VARIABLE RESOLUTION OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SCANNER AND METHOD FOR USING SAME - The invention relates generally to optical tomographic imaging and in particular to systems and methods for adapting the resolution of imaging. One embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for optical coherence tomography imaging, characterized by its ability to vary the axial resolution and scanning speed during imaging. | 12-11-2014 |
20150062532 | DATA ACQUISITION METHODS FOR REDUCED MOTION ARTIFACTS AND APPLICATIONS IN OCT ANGIOGRAPHY - Systems and methods for reducing the effects of motion on functional optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging are described. Embodiments including post-processing and motion tracking are presented. A preferred embodiment in which functional OCT data is collected and analyzed for motion as a multiple scan unit is described. An extension of the invention to the collection of large field of view or montaged functional OCT data sets is also presented. | 03-05-2015 |