Enhanced optical coherence tomography for anatomical mapping
DCFirst Claim
1. An apparatus for obtaining images of an object comprising:
- a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, said system including a light source, a beam splitter for dividing the light along a sample path and a reference path, said sample path further including a scanner for scanning the light in at least one of the X and Y directions over the sample;
a detector for receiving light returned from both the sample and the reference paths and generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis; and
a processor for directly converting each set of outputs into a single intensity value corresponding to the integrated intensity in the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample, said single intensity values being suitable for generating a two dimensional image intensity map of the object.
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Abstract
A system, method and apparatus for anatomical mapping utilizing optical coherence tomography. In the present invention, 3-dimensional fundus intensity imagery can be acquired from a scanning of light back-reflected from an eye. The scanning can include spectral domain scanning, as an example. A fundus intensity image can be acquired in real-time. The 3-dimensional data set can be reduced to generate an anatomical mapping, such as an edema mapping and a thickness mapping. Optionally, a partial fundus intensity image can be produced from the scanning of the eye to generate an en face view of the retinal structure of the eye without first requiring a full segmentation of the 3-D data set. Advantageously, the system, method and apparatus of the present invention can provide quantitative three-dimensional information about the spatial location and extent of macular edema and other pathologies. This three-dimensional information can be used to determine the need for treatment, monitor the effectiveness of treatment and identify the return of fluid that may signal the need for re-treatment.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1. An apparatus for obtaining images of an object comprising:
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a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, said system including a light source, a beam splitter for dividing the light along a sample path and a reference path, said sample path further including a scanner for scanning the light in at least one of the X and Y directions over the sample; a detector for receiving light returned from both the sample and the reference paths and generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis; and a processor for directly converting each set of outputs into a single intensity value corresponding to the integrated intensity in the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample, said single intensity values being suitable for generating a two dimensional image intensity map of the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for obtaining images of an object comprising:
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a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system, said system including a scanner for scanning a light beam in at least one of the X and Y directions over the sample, said system being one of a swept source SD-OCT system and a spectrometer based SD-OCT system, said system generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis; and a processor for directly converting each set of outputs into a single intensity value corresponding to the integrated intensity in the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample, said single intensity values being suitable for generating a two dimensional image intensity map of the object. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of generating intensity images of an object utilizing outputs generated by a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system, said system including a scanner for scanning a light beam in at least one of the X and Y directions over the sample, said system being one of a swept source SD-OCT system and a spectrometer based SD-OCT system, said system generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis, said method comprising the steps of:
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directly converting each set of outputs into a single intensity value corresponding to the integrated intensity in the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample; and generating a two-dimensional intensity map of the integrated intensity values. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. An apparatus for obtaining images of an object comprising:
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a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, said system including a light source, a beam splitter for dividing the light along a sample path and a reference path, said sample path further including a scanner for scanning the light in at least one of the X and Y directions over the sample; a detector for receiving light returned from both the sample and the reference paths and generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis; and a processor for converting the outputs of each set of outputs into a 3-D data set including Z-axis intensity information for each X/Y position, said 3-D data sets being suitable for generating OCT cross-sectional images, said processor further for converting at least some of the 3-D data set into a single intensity value corresponding to the integrated intensity across at least a portion of the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample, said single intensity values being suitable for generating a two dimensional image intensity map of the object. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. An apparatus for obtaining images of an object comprising:
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a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system, said system including a scanner for scanning a light beam in at least one of the X and Y directions over the sample, said system being one of a swept source SD-OCT system and a spectrometer based SD-OCT system, said system generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis; and a processor for converting the outputs of each set of outputs into a 3-D data set including Z-axis intensity information for each X/Y position, said 3-D data sets being suitable for generating OCT cross-sectional images, said processor further for converting at least some of the 3-D data set into a single intensity value corresponding to the integrated intensity across at least a portion of the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample, said single intensity values being suitable for generating a two dimensional image intensity map of the object. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A method of generating intensity images of an object utilizing the output from a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system, said system including a scanner for scanning a light beam in at least one of the X and Y directions over the sample, said system being one of a swept source SD-OCT system and a spectrometer based SD-OCT system, said system generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis, said method comprising the steps of:
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converting the outputs of each set of outputs into a 3-D data set including Z-axis intensity information for each X/Y position, said 3-D data set being suitable for generating OCT cross-sectional images; converting at least some of the 3-D data set into a single intensity value corresponding to the integrated intensity across at least a portion of the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample; and generating a two dimensional image map of the integrated intensity values. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. An apparatus for obtaining images of an object comprising:
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a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, said system including a broad band light source, a beam splitter for dividing the light along a sample path and a reference path, said sample path further including a scanner for scanning the light in at least one of the X and Y directions onto the sample; a detector for receiving light returned from both the sample and the reference paths, said detector including a spectrometer and a line scan camera for generating a plurality of sets of outputs, each set corresponding to varying intensities at different wavelengths of said source at a particular X/Y position of said light on said sample, said intensities including information about the reflection distribution along the sample in the Z axis, said detector further including an auxiliary detector element for monitoring zero order light and generating an output corresponding to the integrated intensity in the Z axis for the associated X/Y position of the light on the sample; and a processor for converting each set of outputs from the line scan camera into a 3-D data set including Z-axis intensity information for each X/Y position, said 3-D data set being suitable for generating cross-sectional images, said processor for converting the outputs from the auxiliary detector element into a format suitable for generating a two dimensional image intensity map of the object.
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Specification