INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS IN OCT SYSTEM

• US 20120053904A1
• Filed: 03/30/2010
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Yuasa, Takashi, Sugita, Mitsuro
• Application Number:
  US13/266,468
• Publication Number:
  US 20120053904A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/189
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/102 for optical coherence tomography [OCT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0066 Optical coherence imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0073 by tomography, i.e. reconstruction of 3D images from 2D projections A61B5/0066 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0261 using optical means, e.g. infrared light

Abstract

Provided is an information processing apparatus in an OCT system capable of acquiring tomographic information and moving velocity information of an object at high speed and over a region larger than a spot size. The apparatus splits light including a plurality of lights of at least first and second light into measurement lights and reference lights and acquires tomographic information and moving velocity information of an object, having: a scanning optical system for scanning with the measurement light; an optical system for applying the measurement light to different spot positions; interference signal generating devices which generate first and second interference signals from a return light obtained when the measurement light is applied to the positions and the reference light reflected by a reference mirror; and a signal processing device which calculates a variation in phase using the interference signals and computes a moving velocity of the object.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus acquiring moving velocity information in an object comprising:

a scanning optical system for scanning the object with first and second measurement lights;

an optical system which focuses the first and second measurement lights on different spot positions of the object, in which at least part of a region scanned by the first measurement light and a part of a region scanned by the second measurement light overlap each other;

interference signal generating devices which generate interference signals from return lights reflected or scattered by the object and the reference lights reflected by a reference mirror; and

a signal processing device which calculates a variation in phase using the interference signals from different measurement lights and computes a moving velocity in the object based on the variation in phase.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, in that

the scanning optical system is adapted to scan spots of the measurement lights made up of the first and second lights in a same direction, and

a size of a scanned region for the spots in a direction perpendicular to a scanning direction in the scanning is smaller than the sum of sizes of the spots.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a unit which makes at least one of an interval between the first and second measurement lights and a scanning speed of the scanning optical system variable.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of a scan line of the first measurement light and at least a part of a scan line of second measurement light overlap each other.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the variation in phase is calculated using the interference signals by the return lights from substantially same spot position at which the first and second measurement lights are irradiated at different times.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object is a retina of the eye, and the moving velocity in the object is a blood flow velocity.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a tomographic image of the object obtained using the interference signals and the moving velocity in the object are displayed on an image display section.

8. An information processing method comprising:

irradiating a first measurement light and a second measurement light at substantially same spot position of an object at different times;

obtaining a first interference signal and a second interference signal in which, a first and a second measurement lights from the substantially same spot of the object, and a first and a second reference lights respectively correspond to the first and the second measurement lights, respectively interfere each other; and

calculating a moving velocity in the object based on a variation in phase between the first and the second interference signals.

9. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein at least a part of a scan line of the first measurement light and at least a part of a scan line of second measurement light overlap each other.

10. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein the object is a retina of the eye, and the moving velocity in the object is a blood flow velocity.

11. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein a tomographic image of the object obtained using the interference signals and the moving velocity in the object are displayed on an image display section.