Sub-micrometer axial resolution OCT for in-vivo imaging of the cellular structure of healthy and keratoconic human corneas

• Published in: Biomedical optics express Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 800 - 812
• Main Authors: Bizheva, Kostadinka, Tan, Bingyao, MacLelan, Benjamin, Kralj, Olivera, Hajialamdari, Mojtaba, Hileeto, Denise, Sorbara, Luigina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Optical Society of America 01.02.2017
• Subjects: (170.0110) Imaging systems; (170.4500) Optical coherence tomography; (170.4460) Ophthalmic optics and devices
• ISSN: 2156-7085; 2156-7085
• DOI: 10.1364/BOE.8.000800

Corneal degenerative conditions such as keratoconus (KC) cause progressive damage to the anterior corneal tissue and eventually severely compromise visual acuity. The ability to visualize corneal tissue damage at cellular or sub-cellular level at different stages of development of KC and other corneal diseases, can aid the early diagnostics as well as the development of more effective treatment approaches for various corneal pathologies, including keratoconus. Here, we present the optical design of an optical coherence tomography system that can achieve 0.95 µm axial resolution in biological tissue and provide test results for the system's spatial resolution and sensitivity. Corneal images acquired with this system from healthy and keratoconic human subjects reveal the cellular and sub-cellular structure of the corneal epithelium, as well as the normal and abnormal structure of the Bowman's membrane and the anterior corneal stroma.