High-resolution wide-field imaging of retinal and choroidal blood perfusion with optical microangiography

Abstract

We present high-resolution wide-field imaging of retinal and choroidal blood perfusion with optical microangiography (OMAG) technology. Based on spatial frequency analysis, OMAG is capable of visualizing the vascular perfusion map down to capillary-level resolution. An OMAG system operating at 840 nm is used with an A-scan rate of 27,000 Hz, axial resolution of 8 mum, and sensitivity of 98 dB. To achieve wide-field imaging, we capture 16 optical coherence tomography (OCT) 3-D datasets in a sequential order, which together provide an area of approximately 7.4 x 7.4 mm(2) at the posterior segment of the human eye. For each of these datasets, the bulk tissue motion artifacts are eliminated by applying a phase compensation method based on histogram estimation of bulk motion phases, while the displacements occurring between adjacent B-frames are compensated for by 2-D cross correlation between two adjacent OMAG flow images. The depth-resolved capability of OMAG imaging also provides volumetric information on the ocular circulations. Finally, we compare the clinical fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography imaging results with the OMAG results of blood perfusion map within the retina and choroid, and show excellent agreement between these modalities.