Astigmatism and Pseudoaccommodation in Pseudophakic Eyes

noAdvanced IOLs with circumferential zones of different power provide pseudoaccommodation. We investigated the potential for power variation with meridian, namely astigmatism, to provide pseudo-accommodation. With appropriate power and axis orientations, acceptable pseudo-accommodation can be achieved

Active Contours and Image Segmentation: The Current State Of the Art

Image segmentation is a fundamental task in image analysis responsible for partitioning an image into multiple sub-regions based on a desired feature. Active contours have been widely used as attractive image segmentation methods because they always produce sub-regions with continuous boundaries, while the kernel-based edge detection methods, e.g. Sobel edge detectors, often produce discontinuous boundaries. The use of level set theory has provided more flexibility and convenience in the implementation of active contours. However, traditional edge-based active contour models have been applicable to only relatively simple images whose sub-regions are uniform without internal edges. Here in this paper we attempt to brief the taxonomy and current state of the art in Image segmentation and usage of Active Contours

Optic nerve head three-dimensional shape analysis

We present a method for optic nerve head (ONH) 3-D shape analysis from retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT). The possibility to noninvasively acquire in vivo high-resolution 3-D volumes of the ONH using spectral domain OCT drives the need to develop tools that quantify the shape of this structure and extract information for clinical applications. The presented method automatically generates a 3-D ONH model and then allows the computation of several 3-D parameters describing the ONH. The method starts with a high-resolution OCT volume scan as input. From this scan, the model-defining inner limiting membrane (ILM) as inner surface and the retinal pigment epithelium as outer surface are segmented, and the Bruch's membrane opening (BMO) as the model origin is detected. Based on the generated ONH model by triangulated 3-D surface reconstruction, different parameters (areas, volumes, annular surface ring, minimum distances) of different ONH regions can then be computed. Additionally, the bending energy (roughness) in the BMO region on the ILM surface and 3-D BMO-MRW surface area are computed. We show that our method is reliable and robust across a large variety of ONH topologies (specific to this structure) and present a first clinical application

Study of Computational Image Matching Techniques: Improving Our View of Biomedical Image Data

Image matching techniques are proven to be necessary in various fields of science and engineering, with many new methods and applications introduced over the years. In this PhD thesis, several computational image matching methods are introduced and investigated for improving the analysis of various biomedical image data. These improvements include the use of matching techniques for enhancing visualization of cross-sectional imaging modalities such as Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), denoising of retinal Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), and high quality 3D reconstruction of surfaces from Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images. This work greatly improves the process of data interpretation of image data with far reaching consequences for basic sciences research. The thesis starts with a general notion of the problem of image matching followed by an overview of the topics covered in the thesis. This is followed by introduction and investigation of several applications of image matching/registration in biomdecial image processing: a) registration-based slice interpolation, b) fast mesh-based deformable image registration and c) use of simultaneous rigid registration and Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) for speckle noise reduction of retinal OCT images. Moving towards a different notion of image matching/correspondence, the problem of view synthesis and 3D reconstruction, with a focus on 3D reconstruction of microscopic samples from 2D images captured by SEM, is considered next. Starting from sparse feature-based matching techniques, an extensive analysis is provided for using several well-known feature detector/descriptor techniques, namely ORB, BRIEF, SURF and SIFT, for the problem of multi-view 3D reconstruction. This chapter contains qualitative and quantitative comparisons in order to reveal the shortcomings of the sparse feature-based techniques. This is followed by introduction of a novel framework using sparse-dense matching/correspondence for high quality 3D reconstruction of SEM images. As will be shown, the proposed framework results in better reconstructions when compared with state-of-the-art sparse-feature based techniques. Even though the proposed framework produces satisfactory results, there is room for improvements. These improvements become more necessary when dealing with higher complexity microscopic samples imaged by SEM as well as in cases with large displacements between corresponding points in micrographs. Therefore, based on the proposed framework, a new approach is proposed for high quality 3D reconstruction of microscopic samples. While in case of having simpler microscopic samples the performance of the two proposed techniques are comparable, the new technique results in more truthful reconstruction of highly complex samples. The thesis is concluded with an overview of the thesis and also pointers regarding future directions of the research using both multi-view and photometric techniques for 3D reconstruction of SEM images

Nanoparticle Contrast Agents for Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides real-time, objective, in-vivo, optical cross-sectional representations of the retina and optic nerve. Recent innovations in image acquisition, including the incorporation of Fourier/spectral-domain detection, have improved imaging speed, sensitivity and resolution. Still, there remain specific structures within ocular OCT images, such as retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which are of clinical interest but consistently have low contrast. This makes it difficult to differentiate between surrounding layers and structures. The objectives of this project were: 1. To establish a reliable method for OCT imaging of the healthy and diseased mouse eye in order to provide a platform for testing the utility of OCT contrast agents for ocular imaging, 2. To develop antibody-conjugated gold nanoparticles suitable for targeting specific structures and enhancing OCT image contrast in the mouse eye, and 3. To examine the localized contrast-enhancing ability and biocompatibility of gold nanoparticle contrast agents in-vivo. Our organizing hypotheses were that nanoparticles could improve contrast by modulating the intensity of backscattered light detected by OCT and that they could be directed to structures of interest using antibodies specific to cellular markers.A reproducible method for imaging the mouse retina and quantifying retinal thickness was developed and this technique was then applied to a mouse model for retinal ganglion cell loss, optic nerve crush. Gold nanorods were designed specifically to augment the backscattering OCT signal at the same wavelengths of light used in current ophthalmic OCT imaging schemes (resonant wavelength Λ = 840 nm). Anti-CD90.2 (Thy1.2) antibodies were conjugated to the gold nanorods and a protocol for characterization of the success of antibody conjugation was developed. Upon injection, the gold nanorods were found to remain in the vitreous post-injection, with many consumed by an early inflammatory response and only very few reaching the internal limiting membrane and passing into the retina. Our findings suggest that, while gold nanorods are able to locally increase OCT signal intensity in the vitreous, their utility in the retina may be limited

Posterior eye shape measurement with retinal OCT compared to MRI

PURPOSE. Posterior eye shape assessment by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to study myopia. We tested the hypothesis that optical coherence tomography (OCT), as an alternative, could measure posterior eye shape similarly to MRI. METHODS. Macular spectral-domain OCT and brain MRI images previously acquired as part of the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases study were analyzed. The right eye in the MRI and OCT images was automatically segmented. Optical coherence tomography segmentations were corrected for optical and display distortions requiring biometry data. The segmentations were fitted to spheres and ellipsoids to obtain the posterior eye radius of curvature (Rc) and asphericity (Qxz). The differences in Rc and Qxz measured by MRI and OCT were tested using paired t-tests. Categorical assignments of prolateness or oblateness using Qxz were compared. RESULTS. Fifty-two subjects (67.8 ± 5.6 years old) with spherical equivalent refraction from +0.50 to -5.38 were included. The mean paired difference between MRI and original OCT posterior eye Rc was 24.03 ± 46.49 mm (P = 0.0005). For corrected OCT images, the difference in Rc decreased to -0.23 ± 2.47 mm (P = 0.51). The difference between MRI and OCT asphericity, Qxz, was -0.052 ± 0.343 (P = 0.28). However, categorical agreement was only moderate (j = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS. Distortion-corrected OCT measurements of Rc and Qxz were not statistically significantly different from MRI, although the moderate categorical agreement suggests that individual differences remained. This study provides evidence that with distortion correction, noninvasive office-based OCT could potentially be used instead of MRI for the study of posterior eye shape

Full OCT anterior segment biometry: An application in cataract surgery

In vivo three-dimensional (3-D) anterior segment biometry before and after cataract surgery was analyzed by using custom highresolution high-speed anterior segment spectral domain Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). The system was provided with custom algorithms for denoising, segmentation, full distortion correction (fan and optical) and merging of the anterior segment volumes (cornea, iris, and crystalline lens or IOL), to provide fully quantitative data of the anterior segment of the eye. The method was tested on an in vitro artificial eye with known surfaces geometry at different orientations and demonstrated on an aging cataract patient in vivo. Biometric parameters CCT, ACD/ILP, CLT/ILT Tilt and decentration are retrieved with a very high degree of accuracy. IOL was placed 400 οm behind the natural crystalline lens, The IOL was aligned with a similar orientation of the natural lens (2.47 deg superiorly), but slightly lower amounts (0.77 deg superiorly). The IOL was decentered superiorly (0.39 mm) and nasally (0.26 mm). © 2013 Optical Society of America.This study has been funded by Spanish Government Grant FIS2011-25637 and European Research Council Grant ERC-2011-AdG-294099 to S. Marcos.Peer Reviewe