Method and system for three-dimensional thickness mapping of corneal micro-layers and corneal diagnoses

A system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a computer-readable memory storing non-transient instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the system to:
• segment, using an image processor, a plurality of high-resolution images of a cornea of the eye, to identify one or more of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea, the plurality of high-resolution images comprising a plurality of images for a plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea, the segmentation causing the system to:
• (a) perform an image registration on the plurality of high-resolution images by (i) identifying an anterior surface of one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea, the anterior surface being a registration reference surface, (ii) comparing a plurality of image frames in the plurality of high-resolution images to the anterior surface, (iii) extracting frames that do not satisfy a registration condition, and (iv) for the remaining frames performing a summation and averaging process to produce a high-resolution composite image of the one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers;
• (b) identify one or more contrast transition surfaces for the high-resolution composite image, the transition surfaces corresponding to interfaces between the different corneal micro-layers;
• and
• (c) perform (a) for an adjacent biologically-defined micro-layer to produce a second high-resolution composite image, the adjacent biologically-defined micro-layer being identified by the one or more contrast transition surfaces;
• determine thickness data for each of the identified one or more of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers, from the segmentation of the plurality of high-resolution images;
• develop, from the thickness data for each of the identified one or more of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers, a thickness map, the thickness map identifying differences in corneal thickness across the identified biologically-defined micro-layer;
• and
• display the thickness map.

A system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a computer-readable memory storing non-transient instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the system to:
• perform a two-surface registration on each of a plurality of high-resolution images of the cornea, the plurality of high-resolution images comprising a plurality of images for a plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea, and generate a high-resolution composite image of the cornea, wherein the two-surface registration comprises an anterior surface registration and a posterior surface registration;
• segment the high-resolution composite image to identify each of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea, wherein segmentation of the high-resolution composite image comprises flattening the high-resolution composite image and performing a vertical projection of a flattened rendition of the high-resolution composite image to produce a segmented high-resolution composite image;
• determine the thickness of at least one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea from the segmented high-resolution composite image;
• develop a thickness map for at least one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea, the thickness map identifying visual differences in thickness across the at least one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers;
• and
• display the thickness map.

A system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a computer-readable memory storing non-transient instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the system to:
• perform an image registration on a plurality of high-resolution images of a cornea to generate a high-resolution composite image of the cornea from a plurality of high-resolution images of the cornea, the plurality of high-resolution images comprising a plurality of images for a plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea;
• segment the high-resolution composite image to identify each of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea using a multiple surface flattening on the high-resolution composite image, the segmentation generating a segmented high-resolution composite image;
• determine the thickness of at least one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea from the segmented high-resolution composite image;
• develop a thickness map for the at least one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers of the cornea, the thickness map identifying visual differences in thickness across the at least one of the plurality of biologically-defined micro-layers;
• and
• display the thickness map.