Highly reproducible swept-source, dispersion-encoded full-range biometry and imaging of the mouse eye

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is vital for ocular imaging.
• Existing OCT systems face limitations in speed and depth range for small animal studies.
• Dispersion-encoded full-range (DEFR) OCT offers potential improvements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report a high-speed, dispersion-encoded, full-range (DEFR) swept-source OCT system.
• To evaluate its efficacy for in vivo ocular imaging and biometry in small animals.
• To demonstrate its capability for high-throughput and reproducible measurements.

Main Methods:

• Development of a DEFR swept-source OCT system operating at 1056 nm.
• Utilizing a 70 nm tuning range and 2048 samples/depth scan for enhanced resolution.
• Achieving an acquisition speed of 18.3 ms per frame (512 depth scans).

Main Results:

• The system achieved a 2x5.0 mm sampling depth with -101 to -71 dB sensitivity.
• Demonstrated precise on-line monitoring and cross-sectional views of mouse eyes.
• Showcased high-throughput, reproducible assessment of biometric features (e.g., axial length +/-5.3 µm).

Conclusions:

• The DEFR OCT system provides fast, unambiguous, and deep imaging of small animal eyes.
• It enables reproducible, high-throughput ocular biometry, insensitive to eye motion.
• This technology is suitable for long-term monitoring and research applications in small animal ophthalmology.