Compact scanning laser ophthalmoscope with high-speed retinal tracker

The effectiveness of image stabilization with a retinal tracker in a multifunction, compact scanning laser ophthalmoscope (TSLO) was demonstrated in initial human subject tests. The retinal tracking system uses a confocal reflectometer with a closed-loop optical servo system to lock onto features in the fundus. The system is multifarious and modular to allow configuration for many research and clinical applications. Adult volunteers were tested without mydriasis to optimize the tracking instrumentation and to characterize imaging performance. The retinal tracking system achieves a bandwidth of greater than 1 kHz, which permits tracking at rates that greatly exceed the maximum rate of motion of the human eye. The TSLO system stabilized images to an accuracy of 0.05 deg in all test subjects during ordinary saccades with a velocity up to similar to500 deg/s. Feature lock was maintained for minutes despite subject eye blinking. Even when nearly 1000 frames were coadded, image blur was minimal. Successful frame coaddition allowed image acquisition with decreased noise in low-light applications. The retinal tracking system significantly enhances the imaging capabilities of the scanning laser ophthalmoscope. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.