Wide-field computational cellular-resolution imaging of the human retina using multi-MHz phase-stable SS-OCT

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) cellular-resolution imaging of the living human retina over a large field of view would bring a great impact in clinical ophthalmology, potentially finding new biomarkers for early diagnosis and improving the pathophysiological understanding of ocular diseases. While hardware-based and computational Adaptive Optics (AO) Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) have been developed to achieve cellular-resolution retinal imaging, these approaches support limited 3D imaging fields and their high cost, and their intrinsic hardware complexity limit their practical utility. Here, we demonstrate 3D depth-invariant cellular-resolution imaging of the living human retina over a 3-mm × 3-mm field of view using the intrinsically phase-stable multi-MHz retinal swept-source OCT and tailored computational defocus and aberration correction methods. Single-acquisition imaging of photoreceptor cells, retinal nerve fiber layer, and retinal capillaries is presented across unprecedented imaging fields. By providing wide-field 3D cellular-resolution imaging in the human retina using a standard point-scan architecture routinely used in the clinic, this platform proposes a strategy for expanded utilization of high-resolution retinal imaging in both research and clinical settings.