Retinal thickness
US10342422B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 13, 2017 |
| Grant date | Jul 9, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 15, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01B9/02044
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method is provided for determining the thickness of a retina. A single beam is used to illuminate the retina of a patient. Interference between reflections off different layers within the retina cause autocorrelation in the returned signal. A spectrometer produces a frequency spectrum of the beam reflected by the retina, and an FFT applied to the frequency spectrum produces a spatial domain signal (SDS). Autocorrelation within the reflected beam results in edges within the spatial domain signal, and the spatial coordinate of the SDS at which the power of the SDS drops precipitously indicates the distance between the nerve fiber layer (NFL) and the layers between the inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), the dominant scatterers. By analyzing autocorrelation, a single beam can be used. This avoids the problem of movement of the patient, arising in the use of a standard OCT interferometer, resulting in a simpler and less expensive technique of measuring retinal thickness.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.