Optical microangiography provides depth-resolved images of directional ocular blood perfusion in posterior eye segment

In this paper, we demonstrate that the optical microangiography (OAMG) is capable of depth-resolved imaging of directional blood perfusion within both retinal and choroid in the posterior segment of human eye. The study uses an OMAG system operating at 840 nm with an imaging speed at 27,000 A-scans per second. Sequentially registered multiple OMAG projection maps of small areas (similar to 1 mm X 1 mm) are combined to provide directional blood flow images for a larger field of view. It takes similar to 3.7 sec to image a small area (1 X 1 mm(2)), and similar to 2.5 min for a larger field (3 X 3 mm(2)). Finally, we show superior performance of OMAG in providing functional images of capillary level microcirculation at different depths of retina and choroid that correlate well with the standard retinal pathology. 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3353958]