Scanning ocular wavefront sensor for characterizing optical quality across retinal eccentricity

An imaging system for capturing images of the periphery of an eye of a patient, the system comprising:

• an optical signal source providing an optical source light;
• a microlens array placed at the pupil conjugate of the patient;
• a wavefront image sensor receiving focused light from the microlens array;
• a rotational table coupled to the microlens array and the wavefront image sensor to rotate the microlens array and the wavefront image sensor capture wavefront images in a scan range of angles in the horizontal plane to the eye;
• a vertical scan system mounted on the rotational table to capture wavefront images in a scan range of vertical angles relative to a horizontal plane to the eye, wherein the vertical scan system includes a hot mirror, a goniometer supporting the hot mirror to direct the optical source light to the eye, a first linear actuator moving in a first dimension, and a second linear actuator coupled to the first linear actuator moving in a second dimension perpendicular to the first dimension, wherein the goniometer, the micro-lens array and wavefront image sensor are coupled to the second linear actuator, and wherein the first linear actuator, the second linear actuator and the goniometer are controlled in the scan range of vertical angles relative to a horizontal plane to the eye;
• and
• a controller coupled to the horizontal scan system and the vertical scan system, the controller activating the horizontal scan system to capture wavefront images of the eye in a horizontal scan;
• the controller activating the vertical scan system to capture wavefront images of the eye in a vertical scan, and the controller activating both the horizontal scan system and the vertical scan system to capture wavefront images of the eye in a diagonal scan.

A method for capturing images for detection of aberrations in an eye, the method comprising:

• providing an optical source light at the pupil conjugate of the eye;
• capturing images of the eye via a microlens array over a horizontal range of angles in the horizontal plane to the eye by positioning an image sensor coupled to a microlens array via a horizontal scan system over the horizontal range;
• capturing images of the eye via the microlens array over a vertical range of angles in the horizontal plane to the eye by positioning the image sensor coupled to the microlens array via a vertical scan system over the vertical range;
• and
• capturing images of the eye via the microlens array over a diagonal range of angles in the horizontal plane to the eye by positioning the image sensor coupled to the microlens array via both the horizontal scan system and the vertical scan system over the diagonal range.