Characterization Of A Hyperspectral Imager: A Diagnostic Tool For Monitoring Retinal Diseases

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2008-08-08T02:31:01Z

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Biomedical Engineering

Abstract

We developed a novel hyperspectral slit lamp ophthalmoscope for visualizing vascular changes for clinical monitoring of retinal diseases, for example, diabetic retinopathy. The device consists of a visible charge couple device, CCD, and liquid crystal tunable filter, LCTF, coupled to the standard clinical slit lamp ophthalmoscope. The LCTF is used as a spectral light source illuminating the retina with different wavelengths of light that are recorded by the CCD and stored as a series of wavelength dependent images of the retina. Chemometric analysis produces a gray scale encoded image for the percentage of oxyhemoglobin at each pixel within the field of view. The system's spatial and spectral resolution and its wavelength tuning accuracy are characterized. The LCTF is continuously tunable in the spectral range of 520 - 602 nm with a capability of passing light with a mean bandwidth of 9.60 nm. The system has a minimum spatial resolution of 0.11 mm when the retina is imaged at CCD binning of 4 X 4 and ophthalmoscope magnification of 10X. The overall acquisition time for the system is within 5 seconds. After characterizing the system, a proof of principle human retinal image is presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the system.

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