Ophthalmic imaging system with automatic retinal feature detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10694940-B2
Application number	US-201816177946-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2018
Priority date	Jun 19, 2014
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

A method of automatically detecting a retinal feature using an ophthalmic imaging system and automatically providing at least one of an audio, visual, and tactile indication of the detected retinal feature to a user.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system configured to acquire an OCT image of a retina;
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:
segment the OCT image to identify a neurosensory retina and an inner limiting membrane of the neurosensory retina;
generate a plurality of metrics based on the segmented OCT image, wherein the plurality of metrics includes:
a thickness of the neurosensory retina in a first area of the retina and a second area of the retina; and
a radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area of the retina and the second area of the retina;
wherein the first and the second areas of the retina are adjacent; compare the thickness of the neurosensory retina and the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area with the thickness of the neurosensory retina and the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the second area;
determine that the thickness of the neurosensory retina in the first area differs from the thickness of the neurosensory retina in the second area and the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area differs from the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the second area; based on the determination, indicate a location of a probable retinal break to a user.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display; and
wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
generate a combined image comprising a visual indicator overlaid on the OCT image or a fundus image; and
provide the combined image to the display.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display; and
wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
generate a pseudo color map representative of a probability of the location of the retinal break; and
provide the pseudo color map to the display.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a tactile device configured to provide tactile or haptic feedback indicating the location of at least one of the first area and the second area based on the tactile indicator generated by the instructions.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the OCT system is configured to acquire a three-dimensional OCT image.

6. A system, comprising:
an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system configured to acquire an OCT image of a retina; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:
segment the OCT image to identify a neurosensory retina and an inner limiting membrane of the neurosensory retina;
generate a plurality of metrics based on the segmented OCT image, wherein the plurality of metrics includes:
a thickness of the neurosensory retina in a first area of the retina and a second area of the retina; and
a radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area of the retina and the second area of the retina;
wherein the first and the second areas of the retina are adjacent; compare the thickness of the neurosensory retina and the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area with the thickness of the neurosensory retina and the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the second area;
determine that a difference in the thickness of the neurosensory retina in the first area and the second area meets or exceeds a first threshold and a difference in the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area and the second area i-s meets or exceeds a second threshold; and based on the determination, indicate a location of a probable retinal break to a user.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the first threshold and the second threshold is configurable by the user.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to adjust at least one of the first threshold and the second threshold based on patient-specific characteristics.

9. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:
a display; and
wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
generate a combined image comprising a visual indicator overlaid on the OCT image or a fundus image; and
provide the combined image to the display.

10. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:
a display; and
wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
generate a pseudo color map representative of a probability of the location of the retinal break; and
provide the pseudo color map to the display.

11. The system of claim 6 , further comprising a tactile device configured to provide tactile or haptic feedback indicating the location of at least one of the first area and the second area based on the tactile indicator generated by the instructions.

12. The system of claim 6 , wherein the OCT system is configured to acquire a three-dimensional OCT image.

13. A method, comprising:
acquiring an OCT image of a retina with an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system of an ophthalmic surgical system;
segmenting the OCT image by an image processor of the ophthalmic surgical system to identify a neurosensory retina and an inner limiting membrane of the neurosensory retina;
generating, by the image processor, the a plurality of metrics based on the segmented OCT image, wherein the plurality of metrics includes:
a thickness of the neurosensory retina in a first area of the retina and a second area of the retina; and
a radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area of the retina and the second area of the retina;
wherein the first and the second areas of the retina are adjacent; determining, by the image processor, at least one of the following:
the thickness of the neurosensory retina in the first area is less than the thickness of the neurosensory retina in the second area and the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area is greater than the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the second area; and
a difference in the thickness of the neurosensory retina in the first area and the second area meets or exceeds a first threshold and a difference in the radius of curvature of the inner limiting membrane in the first area and the second area meets or exceeds a second threshold; and based on the determination, providing at least one of an audio, visual, and tactile indicator to indicate a location of a probable retinal break to a user.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
adjusting at least one of the first threshold and the second threshold based on patient-specific characteristics.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising
generating, by the ophthalmic surgical system, a combined image comprising the visual indicator overlaid on the OCT image or a fundus image; and
providing the combined image to a display.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising
generating, by the ophthalmic surgical system, a pseudo color map representative of a probability of the location of the retinal break; and
providing the pseudo color map to a display.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising
providing tactile or haptic feedback indicating the location of the prob

Assignees

• Alcon Inc

Inventors

• Ren Hugang
• Yu Lingfeng

Classifications

• A61B3/0025

  characterised by electronic signal processing, e.g. eye models · CPC title

• G06T2207/10101

  Optical tomography; Optical coherence tomography [OCT] · CPC title

• G06T7/0012

  Biomedical image inspection · CPC title

• A61B3/102 Primary

  for optical coherence tomography [OCT] · CPC title

• A61B3/12

  for looking at the eye fundus, e.g. ophthalmoscopes (A61B3/13 takes precedence) · CPC title