Abstract
Noninvasive corneal imaging is essential for the diagnosis and treatment control of various diseases affecting the anterior segment of the eye. This study presents an ultrahigh resolution polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography instrument operating in the 840 nm wavelength band that incorporates a conical scanning design for large field of view imaging of the cornea. As the conical scanning introduces a dispersion mismatch depending on the scanning angle, this study implemented variable, location dependent, numerical dispersion compensation in order to achieve high axial resolution throughout the imaged volume. The corneal images were recorded in vivo in healthy volunteers showing various details of corneal structures.
Highlights
Human vision starts with image formation on the retina where the light is detected and converted into electrical signals that are preprocessed and sent to the brain
In order to demonstrate the performance of the variable dispersion compensation, Figure 2 shows a representative B-scan of the cornea recorded in the co-polarized channel prior to the flattening of the image via surface detection without (a) and with (b) variable dispersion compensation
The broadening of the first layer that is observed here is not an artefact caused by residual dispersion but corresponds to an anatomical difference in the periphery of the cornea compared to the central part and might indicate the transition from the corneal to the limbus epithelium
Summary
Human vision starts with image formation on the retina where the light is detected and converted into electrical signals that are preprocessed and sent to the brain. Imaging in the eye is achieved by refraction at the cornea and the lens. The human cornea consists of various layers that can be anatomically separated, starting with the outermost layer, into the epithelium, Bowman’s layer, stroma, Descemet’s membrane and endothelium [1]. The epithelium represents the barrier between the tissue and outside environment and has a thickness of 40–50 μm or 5 to 6 cell layers [1]. Bowman’s layer appears smooth with a thickness of ~15 μm and helps maintaining the shape of the cornea [1]. The thickest layer of the cornea is the stroma that consists of 200–250 lamellae of 0.2–2.5 μm thickness each consisting of
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