Whole Eye Optical Coherence Tomography to Improve Refractive Surgery and Eye Care

Duke University, Durham NC

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research proposal from a multi-disciplinary team of ophthalmologists and biomedical engineers seeks to improve the accuracy of OCT representations of the eye and hence the clinical and research measurements made from OCT images. Hardware and algorithmic innovations will be made and then applied to two important clinical diagnostic measurements. In the anterior eye, accurate measurement of corneal shape determines corneal refractive power. In individuals who have undergone LASIK, however, current clinical diagnostics cannot accurately measure this shape and hence cannot measure corneal refractive power. As these individuals age, this can result in complete spectacle dependency at all distances when they later require further optical modification with cataract surgery; this gap has been recognized as a priority by the National Eye Institute. In the posterior eye, ocular shape is correlated with pathology in myopia. Ocular shape is currently obtained using magnetic resonance imaging, and the attendant logistical and cost barriers with MRI limit the widespread use and investigation of these posterior eye measures. These developments have both direct immediate clinical and research applicability by enabling the specified measures as well as future implications for spatial measurements of the eye from OCT images.