Abstract
In less than a decade, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has gained widespread use for high-resolution imaging of the living retina. Its main attributes are its micron-scale axial resolution, unprecedented sensitivity, and ability to capture both amplitude and phase of the retinal reflection. OCT, however, is not without shortcomings. Principal ones include coherence effects (speckle) and sensitivity to eye motion, both more degrading than in traditional imaging modalities such as flood illumination and scanning laser ophthalmoscope. While these limitations increase the difficulty to interpret the OCT image, fundamental information about structure and function can still be extracted, information traditionally limited to highly invasive approaches such as histology. To illustrate its use, examples are presented for imaging individual cone photoreceptors in three dimensions using OCT in conjunction with adaptive optics (AO).
Meeting abstract presented at OSA Fall Vision 2012