Methods for mapping tissue with optical coherence tomography data
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Meditec AG
InventorMatthew J. Everett
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various methods are disclosed for mapping optical coherence tomography (OCT) data to facilitate review and diagnosis. In one aspect, high resolution 2D line scans are obtained along with lower density 3D cube scans and displayed in a manner to provide context to the clinician. In another aspect, OCT data is analyzed to provide information about non-uniformities of the tissue. Binary image maps of maps useful for determining tautness of membranes are also disclosed.
Claims42
A method of operating an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, said system including a light source for generating a beam of light and a scanner for directing the beam to different locations in an X-Y plane and wherein the system collects information about the reflectance distribution within a sample in a depth direction Z at different locations in the X-Y plane, said method comprising the steps of:
- operating the scanner to obtain a first set of measurements at a plurality of locations along a first line in the X-Y plane, where the spacing between locations is selected to provide a high resolution two dimensional data set;
- operating the scanner to obtain a second set of measurements at a plurality of locations across the X-Y plane where the spacing between locations is selected to provide a lower resolution three dimensional data set and wherein the average distance between adjacent locations in the first set of measurements being less than fifty percent of the average distance between locations obtained in the second set of measurements;
- and
- storing or displaying the results.
An optical coherence tomography (OCT) system comprising:
- a light source for generating a beam of light;
- a scanner for directing the beam to different locations in an X-Y plane;
- a detector for collecting information about the reflectance distribution within a sample in a depth direction Z at different locations in the X-Y plane;
- and
- a memory and wherein said scanner is operated to obtain a first set of measurements at a plurality of locations along a first line in the X-Y plane, where the spacing between locations is selected to provide a high resolution two dimensional data set and wherein said scanner is operated to obtain a second set of measurements at a plurality of locations across the X-Y plane where the spacing between locations is selected to provide a lower resolution three dimensional data set and wherein the average distance between adjacent locations in the first set of measurements being less than fifty percent of the average distance between locations obtained in the second set of measurements and wherein the first and second sets of measurements are stored in the memory.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.